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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 






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Propter Sion non tacebo, et propter Jerusalem non quiescar*. 
For Sion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for the sake of Jerusalem 
I will not rest. — Is. lxii. i. 

AN ACCOUNT OF THE 

Association of the Heart of Jesus 

AND OF 

OUR LADY OF THE SEVEN DOLORS 

OF BOULLERET (CHER), -FRANCE. 



by y 

L'ABBE JOSEPH OLIVE, 

tr of Theology of the University of St. Thomas , Rome, Director of the 
Association of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors of Boullcret, 
at Cette (Herautt). 

FROM THE SECOND FRENCH EDITION. 

"It is God who speaks at Boulleret by the mouth of Our Lady of the 
Seven Dolors, through the agency of the pious woman, and announces to • 
men the chastisements which He will inflict on them. Happy are those 
who will believe in the warnings of Heaven, and put in practice the means 
indicated by the Most Holy Virgin in order to be preserved from the 
chastisements.''— Letter of Monseigneur Tarino, Private Chamberlain of 
His Holiness, A ugust J , I Sqo . 

11 May the almighty and merciful God bless you and bless your work." — 
Blessing given to the Director of the Association by His Eminence Cardinal 
Dunajeivski, Prince-Bishop of Cracow % Rome, June, l8g r. 

" I bless from the bottom of my heart M. l'Abbe Olive, that he may con- 
tinue to produce fruits in the house of the Lord, like the tree of which he 
bears the name."—/. M, x Cardinal Vicar , Rome, April ij, i80 2 % 






Price 30 Cents. ^ 



New York, Cincinnati, Chicago : 

BENZIQKR BROTHERS, 

Printers to the Holy Apostolic See. 
1S94. 






h» 




V i> 



Copyright, 1894, by Mary Jane Harper. 




LC Control Number 




tmp96 027742 



INTRODUCTORY. 



I.— DECLARATION. 
We declare that we submit to the tribunal of our 
Mother, the holy Church, this account and all our writ- 
ings, ready to condemn with her, sincerely and with 
simplicity and humility, any errors against her doctrine 
which, notwithstanding our will and vigilance, may 
have escaped from our pen. 

II. -ASSOCIATION IX HONOR OF THE HEART OF 
JESUS AND OF OUR LADY OF THE SEVEN DOLORS 
OF BOULLERET (CHER), FRANCE. 

Rule. 

Article First. — To wear suspended from the neck the 
medal of the Association ; to recite everv dav the Act 
of Love and the Chaplet of the Seven Dolors either 
complete or abridged, or at least seven times the Hail 
Mary of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. 

Article Second. — To send the baptismal and family 
name to Rev. Joseph Olive, D.D., Cette (He'rault), 
France, or Mary Jane Harper, P. O. Box 87, Brooklyn, 
X. Y. 

Xote 1. — The associates who cannot recite the Act 
of Love and the Chaplet must say the following invo- 
cations, three times : Heart of Jesus, have pity on us ; 
Our Lady of the Seven Dolors, pray for us, save us, 

3 



3ntrobuctory. 



save the Church, Rome, and France. If they do not 
belong to either of these countries, they add to them the 
name of their own nation. 

Note 2. — We will receive children and adults whose 
baptismal and family names are sent to us, provided 
they wear the medal and that the invocations are said 
for them every day. 

Note 3. — We recommend the associates who have a 
half hour at their disposal to recite the Office of Our 
Lady of the Seven Dolors. 

Note 4. — We also recommend the associates to go to 
holy communion every Friday or at least the first Fri- 
day of the month, in honor of the Sacred Heart of 
Jesus and Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. 

Note 5. — Finally, we recommend the associates who 
can, and who will obtain the consent of their confessors, 
to fast, or wear a hair-shirt, or give themselves the dis- 
cipline every Friday. 

Note 6. — The conditions to be fulfilled contained in 
the first article do not oblige under pain of sin ; con- 
sequently, if the associates fail through forgetfulness or 
negligence, they do not thereby commit sin. 

Rev. Joseph Olive, 

Doctor of Theology of the University of St. Thomas (Rome), 
Director of the Association. 

III.— THE HAIL MARY OF OUR LADY OF THE SEVEN 
DOLORS. 

Hail Mary, full of sorrows, Jesus crucified is with 
thee ; most sorrowful and worthy of compassion art 
thou among women, and most sorrowful and worthy of 
compassion is the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. 

Holy Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ crucified, beg 



2tbribgeb manner of Heating tt>e dbaplet. 5 

tears of compunction for us, the cruciners of thy Son, 
now, and at the hour of our death. Amen. 

IV.— INVOCATION TO ST. MICHAEL ARCHANGEL 
FOR THE PRESENT TIMES. 
St. Michael Archangel, remember us ; protect and 
guard us everywhere and always, but especially in the 
terrible time of the chastisement, in order that we may 
not perish. 

V.— MANNER OF RECITING THE CHAPLET OF OUR 
LADY OF THE SEVEN DOLORS. 

Commence with an act of contrition. This chaplet 
is divided into seven parts, each part consisting of the 
Our Father once and the Hail Mary seven times. A 
dolor is said at the commencement of each part before 
the Our Father. At the end say the Hail Mary three 
times, in honor of the tears which Mary shed during 
the Passion of her divine Son, and to obtain the in- 
dulgences attached to this chaplet. Then add one 
Hail Mary of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. 

VL— ABRIDGED MANNER OF RECITING THE CHAP- 
LET OF THE SEVEN DOLORS, 

Indicated by the Blessed Virgin for those who are pre- 
vented by their work from 7'eciting the complete 
chaplet. {Apparition of the 8th of Sept., 1883.) 
This chaplet is recited the same as the preceding, 
but in place of the Hail Mary on the 49 beads of the 
seven parts, the following invocation is said : Our Lady 
of the Seven Dolors, pray for us and for the salvation 
of France. At the end, as in the complete chaplet, 
recite three times the ordinary Hail Mary and once the 
Hail Mary of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. 



6 3 n ^ ro ^ uc ^ or V- 



VII.— THE SEVEN DOLORS OF THE MOST HOLY 
VIRGIN. 
First Dolor : The sorrow the Blessed Virgin felt 
when the holy old man Simeon announced to her that 
a sword should pierce her heart. — Second Dolor : The 
sorrow she felt when she had to fly into Egypt. — Third 
Dolor : The sorrow she felt when she lost the holy 
child Jesus in Jerusalem. — Fourth Dolor : The sorrow 
she felt when she met her most loving Son Jesus 
carrying the cross. — Fifth Dolor : The sorrow she felt 
when Jesus was raised on the cross. — Sixth Dolor : 
The sorrow she felt when she received in her arms the 
inanimate body of Jesus. — Seventh Dolor : The sorrow 
she felt when the holy body of Jesus was laid in the 
sepulchre. 

VIII.— INDULGENCES GRANTED TO THOSE WHO 
RECITE THE CHAPLET OF THE SEVEN DOLORS. 

Partial Indulgences. 

Indulgences granted by the Sovereign Pontiffs : 

i st. Indulgence of ioo days for every Our Father and 
every Hail Mary. 

2d. Indulgence of 200 days for every Our Father and 
every Hail Mary to those who recite this chaplet on Fri- 
day of each week, on all the days of Lent, on the feast 
and during the octave of the Seven Dolors in the month 
of September. 

3d. Indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines, 
that is to say seven times forty days, when the whole 
chaplet is recited. 

These indulgences can be gained on chaplets that 
are only blessed ; but on those that are indulgenced 
one can gain : 



2lct of €ot>e Keoealeb at Boulleret. 



i st. ioo years for reciting the entire chaplet ; 

2d. 150 years for reciting it on Mondays, Wednesdays, 
and Fridays, and feasts of obligation, and when we 
carry it about us. 

3d. 200 years to those who shall say this chaplet with 
devotion, and pray for the triumph of holy Mother 
Church, for the extirpation of heresy, and for the 
spread of the Catholic religion. 

To gain these indulgences it is necessary to have 
contrition for your sins, to go to confession if you have 
offended God grievously, or at least to have a firm 
purpose-of going to confession. 

Plenary Indulgences. * 

1 st. A plenary indulgence once a year to those who 
recite the chaplet four times a week, to be gained on 
any day they choose, after confession and communion. 

2d. Those who recite it every day for a month can 
gain a plenary indulgence on any day they choose 
during the month, if, being truly penitent, after con- 
fession and communion, they pray for the usual 
intentions. 

IX.— ACT OF LOVE REVEALED AT BOULLERET THE 
13TH OF MAY, 1886, BY OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. 

Act of Love, Adoration, Consecratio?i. Offering, and 
Reparatio?i to the Heart of fesus Loving, Suffer- 
ing, Penitent and Expiatifig for the Sins of If is 
Children. 

O Jesus, all amiable source of continual graces and 
blessings ; perpetual security of Thy children who are 
earnest and faithful to the consoling devotion of Thy 
suffering Heart, ever burning with an ardent thirst 



8 3 n * ro & uc t or Y- 



and a love all inflamed with the desire of being loved 
by us : behold me then prostrate at Thy feet, O my sweet 
Saviour, contemplating this salutary wound, open to 
poor unfortunate sinners. I come also in my miserable 
distress to beg Thee on my knees for shelter therein. 
I entreat Thee let me enter into this place of delight, 
and allow me to draw from this source of living and 
limpid water that I may quench my thirst for eternal life, 
and at the same time cleanse my soul and body, in 
order to purify them from the stains with which the 
malice of sin has defiled them. 

Oh, through love let me press my parched and burn- 
ing lips on this wound which forms a sacred fountain ; 
inebriate me with the precious liquor of the blood of 
love which flows from it, that I may be inseparably 
united to Thee here below, and in a happy eternity. 
To give myself to Thee in this world is for my own 
essential advantage ; without Thee my being is capable 
of nothing. 

I consecrate to Thee all the strength and faculties of 
my soul, my heart, my mind, my body, and my life ; 
deign to accept them. I promise Thee to act, not only 
so as to accomplish Thy holy will in all things, but to 
study how to know and love Thee, and make Thee 
known and loved ever more and more, in order to 
satisfy Thy outraged justice and glory. I offer Thee 
also all my tribulations, afflictions, trials, pains, and 
sufferings in a spirit of adoration before Thy real pres- 
ence ; of thanksgiving, of gratitude, and of acknowl- 
edgment for the innumerable gifts and benefits with 
which Thou hast laden us ; and also of reparation 
for the outrages and offences Thou receivest on the part 
of Thy children, who, calling themselves pious and 



2Ict of £or>e Hesealcb at 3oulleret. 



devout, and wounded by the thorn of pride, blind 
themselves to their numerous faults : of selfishness, 
cupidity, unbridled love of pleasure, calumny, slander, 
rash judgment, and false reports. These souls take no 
pains to correct themselves by making use of the 
powerful means of sacrifice, nor do they put themselves 
in the way of amending their hearts by the practice of 
charity, humility, obedience, and submission, so as to 
prepare and offer to their divine Saviour a dwelling- 
place worthy of Him. These souls expose themselves, 
in communicating often in these dispositions, to an act 
which wounds, opens, bruises, and rends anew the 
Heart of Jesus in the Sacred Host. 

O love all amiable of the Sacred Heart of Jesus pen- 
itent, inflame our souls, hearts, and minds, and every 
instant of our lives with the most tender and filial love 
toward the maternal Heart of Mary, that Mother 
afflicted with sorrow because of the ardent desire she 
has of being loved by us. Ah ! may we by our efforts 
remain grouped under her virginal and protecting wing, 
that at the moment of the dreadful trial she may con- 
sole and strengthen us in our terrible weakness, and 
at the hour of our death she may receive us into her 
motherly arms and conduct us to a throne of repose, 
to bless and praise Thee forever in Thy eternal glory. 

Lord, have mercy on us ; have mercy on me, on my 
parents, my friends, my enemies, and on all my dear de- 
ceased. Have mercy on the holy Church, on Rome, 
and France. Save us all, but above all save Thy Church 
in the name of the Sacred Heart. 

This prayer was revealed by Jesus Christ Himself on 
the 13th of May, 1886, to Josephine, victim of Boul- 
leret : " I wish that thou makest this prayer known, 



io 3 n fr°& uc t° r Y- 



and that it be recited every day." {Words of our 
divine Saviour to the victim.} 

X.— DEDICATION. 

We offer this little work to Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors, who, notwithstanding our* unworthiness, our in- 
significance, and our birth, has chosen us to propagate, 
near and far, the devotion to the seven wounds of her 
heart for the salvation and triumph of the Church, of 
Rome, and France, according to her desire expressed 
to Josephine of Boulleret in the apparition of November 
21st, 1877. We offer this book to Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors, as we consecrate to her all our writings, our 
labors, our fatigues, our pains, and every instant of our 
life. In return, we pray her to obtain for us from her 
divine Son the light and strength necessary to write 
this account with simplicity, clearness, and truth, and to 
direct the work of Boulleret with faith, love, zeal, 
and humility. 

XL—THE END THAT WE PROPOSE IN WRITING 
THIS ACCOUNT. 

It is not our design to write all the details which 
concern either the Association or the apparitions of 
Boulleret ; many of the details cannot at present be 
given to the public ; it would, besides, make a large 
volume ; time fails us, and it is not necessary : this 
large volume we will write later, if God wdlls it. 

We do not write this book to satisfy the curiosity of 
those who love to read what is extraordinary, and do 
not care to read divine supernatural acts that will be 
of spiritual profit to their souls. Neither do we write 
it for the incredulous who deny God and laugh at re- 



(Dbject of Hunting tfyts Account. 



ligion and the apparitions ; nor for Catholics who deny 
the supernatural, or reject in general all apparitions 
unless they have been solemnly approved by the Church, 
approbation that is given only after a time more or less 
prolonged. And, yet a stronger reason, we do not write 
for those who attribute all apparitions to the demon, 
or the acts that take place at the houses of all super- 
natural persons to hysteria, or an unknown malady. 

We write this account for those who have heard of 
the Association and ar ; e inspired by God to take cogni- 
zance of it and become members ; for those who 
write to us asking information : instead of replying 
by a long letter we send them a copy of this work. 
We write this account, too, for persons of good faith 
who wish to be enlightened on the apparitions of Boul- 
leret, they having been told that the extraordinary acts 
at Boulleret came from natural causes, that is to say, 
a malady that has remained unknown to the physicians 
for nearly twenty years, as they themselves have de- 
clared ; others having assured them that it is the devil 
who appears to Josephine, and still others, that it is 
indeed the most holy Virgin ; finally, some have said 
that Boulleret, the Association, and Josephine have all 
been condemned : those who wish to be enlightened, 
having heard of us and of the knowledge we have had 
for the last eight years of these extraordinary acts, 
interrogate us and beg to know what we think and 
what they must believe ; to these persons also we send 
a copy of this book. 

We write this account particularly for our dear brother 
zclators and zelatrices who have not always the time 
to spare to explain it to others, or to write the neces- 
sary explanations for those whom they wish to obtain 



12 3 n ^ ro ^ uc ^ or Y' 






as members of the Association : they can lend or give 
them this book. We write this notice for you all, my 
dear brothers and sisters, whom, to use the expression 
of St. Paul, we have adopted in Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors, and we love you as a father and mother love 
their children, as we love in the Heart of Jesus in the 
Host and at the feet of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. 
You should guard this book with care, and read it 
from time to time, in order to retain in your memory 
the words revealed by Our Lady of the Seven Dolors 
and Jesus most amiable ; above all. you should read it 
at least once a week, during the sad and lamentable 
days of the terrible chastisement, so that your faith 
may not then fail, and that you will await, with confi- 
dence and assurance, the salvation and triumph prom- 
ised at Boulleret of the Church, Rome, and France. 

We write this book principally to transmit and make 
known to every one, particularly to men of good will, 
the warnings and menaces of Heaven, and to indicate 
the means revealed by Our Lady of the Seven Dolors 
to escape and survive the dreadful plagues with which 
God will strike culpable Europe. Those who will par- 
ticipate in the work of Boulleret, that is to say, will 
honor the seven wounds of the Heart of Mary and 
consequently become members of the Association, 
will be preserved from all danger, " All persons who 
will faithfully accomplish this work, I will bless and pre- 
serve from all danger " (Apparition of the 21st of Nov- 
ember, 1877.) 



OBJECTS OF DEVOTION ON SALE FOR THE 
BENEFIT OF THE WORK. 



nickel 
silver 



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each 12 



An Account of the Confraternity of Our Lady of 
the Seven Dolors and the Apparitions of 

Boulleret 30 cts. 

Medals. 

Small brass medals 1 doz. 12 cts. 

" nickel 
" silver 

Large brass " " 5 

" 12 " 

" $1.00 

Chaplet of the Seven Dolors, with one medal, 12 cts. 
" " " with eight medals, 20 " 

" u " extra chain and medals, 30 " 

Chaplet of the Five Wounds 5 " 

Small picture of Our Lady of Dolors 2 " 

Large picture of Our Lady of Dolors 25 " 

Act of Love, prayer revealed by Our Lord, 

1 doz. 12 " 

Violet cord for children " 7 " 

The chaplets, medals and cords are sent blessed and 
indulgenceA 

These objects can be obtained by sending to either 
of the two addresses given above. 

The following books and leaflets are to be had in 
French : 

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14 (Dbjects of Demotion. 

Les Chatiments 12 cts. 

Les Lettres des deux premieres annees ; un 

volume de 500 pages ; . . . 75 " 

Je vous salue de Notre-Dame des Sept-Dou- 
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leurs, broche, 12 cts ; relie' 18 " 

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CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTORY. 

PAGE 

I. Declaration 3 

II. Association in Honor of the Heart of Jesus and of Our 
Lady of the Seven Dolors of Boulleret (Cher), 
France 3 

III. The Hail Mary of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors 4 

IV. Invocation of St. Michael Archangel for the Present 

Times 5 

V. Manner of Reciting the Chaplet of Our Lady of the 

Seven Dolors 5 

VI. Abridged Manner of Reciting the Chaplet of Our 
Lady of the Seven Dolors, indicated by the Blessed 
Virgin for those who are Prevented by their Work 
from Reciting the Complete Chaplet. Apparition of 

the 8th of September, 1883 5 

VII. The Seven Dolors of the Most Holy Virgin 6 

VIII. Indulgences Granted to those who Recite the Chaplet 

of the Seven Dolors 6 

IX. Act of Love Revealed at Boulleret the 13th of May, 

1886, by Our Lord Jesus Christ 7 

X. Dedication 10 

XL The End that we Propose in Writing this Account. . . 10 
Objects of Devotion on Sale for the Benefit of the 

Work 13 

CHAPTER FIRST. 

The Association of the Heart of Jesus and of Our Lady 

of the Seven Dolors of Boulleret. 

Article First. — Conditions Required to Become a Member 

of the Association 19 



1 6 Contents. 



PAGE 

Article Second. — Association of the Heart of Jesus and Our 

Lady of the Seven Dolors > 20 

Article Third. — Of the " Review " of the Association 20 

Article Fourth. — Children Vowed to the Violet. — Adults 
Consecrated to Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. — Lamps 
in Honor of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors 21 

Article Fifth. — How we came to Establish the Association of 
the Heart of Jesus and of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors 
of Boulleret, we who live so far from this Village. ... 22 

Article Sixth. — Of the Number of Members of the Association. 24 



CHAPTER SECOND. 
Josephine Reverdy, Spouse of Louis Raimbault. 

Article First. — Josephine Reverdy, her Family, her Birth, her 

Youth, and her Marriage 26 

Article Second. — Why the Blessed Virgin appeared to a 

Married Woman 28 

Article Third. — Josephine, Victim and Prophetess 29 

CHAPTER THIRD. 

Apparitions of Boulleret. 

Article pTrst. — Apparition of the nth of December, 1875... • 35 

Article Second. — Apparition of the 16th of March, 1876 36 

Article Third. — Apparition of the 17th of March, 1876. — Jose- 
phine is Chosen as Victim 37 

Article Fourth. — Apparition of the 24th of March, 1876 37 

Article Fifth. — Apparition of the 9th of April, 1877 38 

Article Sixth. — Apparition of the 7th of September, 1877 .... 39 

Article Seventh. — Apparition of the 8th of September, 1877. 40 
Article Eighth. — Apparition of the 29th of September, 1877. 
— Our Lady of the Seven Dolors Shows her Heart, Rent 

and Torn, to Josephine 41 

Article Ninth. — Apparition of the 28th of October, 1877. ... 44 
Article Tenth. — Apparition of the 21st of November, 1877. — 
Promise of the Holy Virgin to Preserve from all Danger 

those who Honor the Seven Wounds of her Heart. 44 



Contents. 17 



FAGE 

Ariicle Eleventh. — Apparition of the 1st of December, 1877. — 
Desire of the Most Holy Virgin that Josephine Reside 
until her Death at Boulleret. — She Promises her the 

Crown of Martyrs 45 

Article Twelfth. — Apparition of the 7th of December, 1S77.. 46 
Article Thirteenth. — Apparition of the 1st of February, 1S78. 48 

Article Fourteenth. — Apparition of February 2d, 1878 49 

Article Fifteenth. — Apparition of the 25th of March, 1878. — 

' ; I am Our Lady of the Seven Dolors " 51 

Article Sixteenth. — Apparition of the 12th of April, 1878. ... 55 
Article Seventeenth. — Apparition of the 1st of May, 1878... . 58 
Article Eighteenth. — Apparition of the 13th of May, 187S. . . 60 
Article Nineteenth. — Apparition of the 31st of May, 1S78. ... 64 
Article Twentieth. — Apparitions of the Demon who En- 
deavors to Destroy the Work of Boulleret 70 

Article Twenty-first. — The Inquiry on the Acts of Boulleret, 

August, 1S7S -.- 72 

Article Twenty-second. — Apparition of the 15th of August, 

•8/8...' -3 

Article Twenty-third. — Apparition of the 22d of September, 

1S7S 75 

Article Twenty-fourth. — Josephine leaves Jarrier to go and live 
at Boulleret. — Birth of Marie. — Vision of the 1st of 
May, 1879. — " On this Earth there is no more Happi- 
ness for thee " 76 

Article Twenty-fifth. — Apparition of the 1st of May, 18S0. . . yS 
Article Twenty-sixth. — Apparition of the 1st of May, 18S1. — 

Chastisements Announced 79 

Article Twenty-seventh. — Apparition of August 7th, iSSi. — 

The Blessed Virgin Recommends to stay in one's 

Family and Pray at the Time of the Chastisements. . 83 

Article Twenty-eighth. — Birth of Valerie. — Apparition of the 

13th of May, 1883. — Civil War, European War.— 

Triumph of the Church and of France (Tableau) Sj 

Article Twenty-ninth. — Josephine is Forbidden by her Su- 
periors to Render an Account of or to Speak of her 
Apparitions. — Apparition of the 8th of September, 
1883. — Abridged Manner of Reciting the Chaplet in- 
dicated by the Most Holy Virgin 93 



Contents. 



PAGE 

Article Thirtieth. — Apparition of the 14th of October, 1883.. 98 

Article Thirty-first. — Apparition of the 8th of December, 1883. 99 

Article Thirty-second. — Apparition of the 13th of May, 1884. IO ° 

Article Thirty-third. — Apparition of the 2d of February, 1884. 100 
Article Thirty-fourth. — Apparition of the 13th of May, 1885. — 

The Blessed Virgin sends us to Aid Josephine and her 

Family 101 

Article Thirty-fifth. — Apparition of the 13th of May, 1886. — 

Revelation by Our Lord of the Act of Love 103 

Article Thirty-sixth. — Apparition of the 13th of May, 1887.. . no 

Article Thirty-seventh. — Apparition of the 31st of May, 1887. Ir 9 

Article Thirty-eighth. — Apparition of the 13th of May, 1888. 131 
Article Thirty-ninth. — Apparition of the 15th of August, 

1888 142 

Article Fortieth. — Apparition of the 13th of May, 1889 154 

Article Forty-first. — Conclusion to the First Edition of One 

Thousand Copies :. 174 

Article Forty-second. — Apparition of the 13th of May, 1890. 176 
Article Forty-third. — Pilgrimage of the Victim to Paray-le- 

Monial in September 1890 192 

Article Forty-fourth. — State to the Prophetess and Victim 

during the Month of March 189 1 205 

Article Forty-fifth. — Condition of the Victim of Boulleret 

during the Month of April, 1891 209 

Article Forty-sixth. — Condition of the Victim during the 

Months of March and April 1891. — New Details.— 

Apparition of the 13th of May, 1891 212 

Article Forty-seventh. — Apparition of the 13th of May, 1892. 237 

Article Forty-eighth. — Apparition of the 13th of May, 1893. • • 2 45 






ACCOUNT 



Association of the Heart of Jesus 

AND OF 

(Bur Ifedg of the $tvm iotors, 

AND OF THE APPARITIONS OF BOULLERET (CHER), FRANCE. 



Cbapter fffrst* 

THE ASSOCIATION OF THE HEART OF JESUS AXD 
OF OUR LADY OF SEVEN DOLORS OF BOUL- 
LERET. 

Article First. — Conditions Required to become a Member 
of the A ssocia tion . 

To wear suspended from the neck the medal of the 
Association ; to recite every day the Act of Love and 
the Chaplet of the Seven Dolors, either complete or 
abridged ; or at least to say seven times the Hail Mary 
of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. 

To send the baptismal and family name to Rev. 
Joseph Olive, D.D., Cette (He'rault), France. 

The associates who cannot recite the Act of Love and 
the chaplet must say the following invocations, three 
times : Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us ; Our Lady of 
the Seven Dolors, pray for us, save us, save the Church, 

*9 



2o <Ef?e Association of tfye ^cart of 3esus 



Rome, and France. If they do not belong to either of 
these countries, they add to them the name of their 
own nation. 

Article Second, — Association of the Heart of Jesus and 
of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. 
As we will say later on, our desire is to build at Boul- 
leret a chapel to be dedicated to the Sacred Heart of 
Jesus and Our Lady of the Seven Dolors which will 
be the headquarters of the Association. Until this de- 
sire can be accomplished we will direct the Association 
from Cette, our native city. 

Article Third. — Of the " Review " of the Association. 

From the commencement, we quite understood that 
it was necessary to publish a Review in order that the 
desire of the most holy Virgin be properly accom- 
plished ; that is, that the associates would not honor the 
seven wounds of her heart for a week, a month, or a 
year only, but faithfully and constantly. Every month 
then we publish a Review, under the title, Letters to the 
Members of the Association of the Heart of Jesus and 
Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. This Review' has 
produced another effect that we did not foresee, an 
effect of sovereign importance for the desire of 
Jesus and of Mary desolate : it has become the 
means of propagating at a distance the Act of Love 
and the devotion to the seven wounds of the Heart of 
Mary. 

We established the Association in the month of June 
1886 ; we commenced to publish the Review in the 
month of September following. At first, we printed five 
hundred copies ; now, December, 1890, we print two 
thousand five hundred. This Review has made its way 



anb of (Dur Haby of tfye Seven Dolors. 2 1 

very quietly up to the present time, without encounter- 
ing many obstacles, or at least those obstacles that 
break and reduce to nothing. Once only it encountered 
an obstacle which it could not surmount. 

The price of subscription is forty cents. To those 
who cannot afford so much, only twenty cents. We 
also give it gratuitously to those who cannot pay and 
who will ask it from us. 

Article Fourth, — Childrefi Vowed to the Violet. — Adults 
Consecrated to Our Lady of the Srcen Dolors. — Lamps 
in Honor of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. 

Our zeal for Our Lady of Dolors having no bounds, 
as zeal for God and souls and Mary should be bound- 
less, especially in the soul of a priest, we have decided 
that the associates can vow their children to the violet, 
by making them wear, during seven months, seven 
years, or even a shorter time, but only until the age of 
seven years inclusively, a cord of violet and white, 
which we will bless and send to them. 

Associates over seven years can consecrate them- 
selves to Our Lady of the Seven Dolors, by wearing 
mourning or half mourning during seven years or less 
with the small medal suspended by a little violet cord, 
and worn outwardly. 

We again express the desire that the associates will 
burn a lamp constantly before the picture of the Associ- 
ation. Several associates can unite and divide the 
expense between them ; then the lamp may be burned 
at the house of the person chosen for that purpose. 

We will give in the Review the baptismal name and 
the place of residence of the children vowed to the 
violet and of the adults consecrated to Our Lady of 



22 (Cfye 2issGc\atxon of tfye ^eart of 3esus 

the Seven Dolors, and also of those who burn a lamp. 
When several associates join together, we will give the 
name of one, adding the word septaine. 

Article Fifth. — How we came to Establish the Association 
of the Heart of fesus and of Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors of Boulleret, we who Live so far from this 
Village. 

At the commencement of the year 1883 we were 
given the book of the Apparitions of Boulleret. We 
knew nothing of these apparitions, and were not aware 
in any manner that Boulleret existed. It is situated in 
the Department of Cher, and is a part of the archdiocese 
of Bourges. W T e read this book with interest and 
attention, and we believed in the apparitions. From 
our theological knowledge we believed without any 
doubt that the extraordinary acts of Boulleret were 
not deceitful, and that Josephine had no intention or 
wish to impose or mislead ; that these acts did not be- 
long to the natural order, that is to say, to sickness — an 
unknown malady; neither did they pertain to the dia- 
bolical supernatural, but belonged frilly and entirely to 
the divine supernatural, and that it was really the most 
holy Virgin under the form of Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors who appeared to Josephine. This belief, after 
nine visits to Boulleret, which lasted a week and fifteen 
days at a time, has now become more and more un- 
shaken. 

We had been given the book of the apparitions in 
the commencement of the year 1883 ; two years and 
some months later, in April 1885, having a journey to 
make in France — we were then cure of Mas-Blanc, a 
parish of 170 souls, in the mountains — we resolved to 



i 



anb of (Dur £aby of tfye Seven Dolors. 



go and see Josephine. She was with her family : her 
husband is a maker of wooden shoes. On account of 
her condition as a victim, she was plunged in very 
great misery. The Blessed Virgin, in the apparition of 
the 13th of May following, sent us to her that we might 
aid her in the work she is to accomplish. 

It was one year after, in 1886, that we were inspired 
to respond to the desire of the most holy Virgin, 
which had not yet been heeded, to establish the As- 
sociation of the Heart of Jesus and Our Lady of the 
Seven Dolors of Boulleret. We wrote a sort of pros- 
pectus that we sent in the month of June, 1886, to 
Adrian Peladan of Ximes, since then deceased, pray- 
ing him, if he were willing, to insert it in the June 
number of the monthly Review published by him 
called " The Annals of the Supernatural" ; this he did 
with great alacrity. 

Associates commenced to present themselves. The 
following September they numbered three hundred, and 
the 1 st of March, 1887, ten thousand. 

The 1st of March, 1887, with the authorization of 
our bishop, Mgr. de Montpellier, we left our parish and 
went to Rome. After our return we intended to reside 
at Boulleret, where we proposed to build a temporary 
chapel dedicated to the Heart of Jesus and Our Lady 
of the Seven Dolors, which would have been the seat 
of the Association. 

We say temporary, to be used only while waiting for 
the triumph of the Church and France. After that, 
they will build at Boulleret a very large and very beauti- 
ful church in honor of the Heart of Jesus and Our Lady 
of the Seven Dolors, to express the gratitude that 
France owes them. 



24 Cfye Association of tfye J^eart of 3csus 

Before our departure we visited Bourges and saw 
the archbishop, in order to acquaint him with our jour- 
ney to Rome and our design of building a chapel at 
Boulleret. God has not yet permitted that we should 
put this project in execution. 

We passed three months in Rome ; after which we 
returned to France. We have resided, since then, at 
Cette (Herault), our native place, in the house of our 
venerable mother. It is from Cette that we will direct 
the Association, while waiting to be transferred to 
Boulleret and to build the chapel, if it be the will of God. 

At Cette we celebrate Mass every morning at six 
o'clock ; we hear the confessions of those who apply 
to us, and we preach for our confreres when they desire 
our services. 

. To those who wish to know more of us, we will say 
that we were born at Cette, the 19th of February, 1856 ; 
we were ordained at Montpellier, the eve of St. Peter's 
day, 186 1 ; we passed as Doctor of Theology in Rome 
in 1865, after having followed the course of St. Thomas 
with the Dominicans. We have spoken of our pro- 
fessor of St. Thomas, the celebrated P. Carbo, in " The 
Art of Acqui?'ing Science a?id Learning to Write. ' ' 

Article Sixth. — Of the Number of Members of the Associa- 
tion. 

The number of members on the 1st of March 1887, 
eight months after the Association had been announced 
in the "Annals of the Supernatural" was ten thousand ; 
since then this number has not ceased to augment: 
it is to-day, 31st of December, 1890, 114,9^5, and the 
Association is extended throughout France, Italy, 
Belgium, Asia, America, Algeria, Tunis, Senegal in 



anD of (Dur £aoy of tr?e Seven Dofors. 



Malaysia ; a proof that this work is divine and willed 
by God. For, when God wills a work, it advances to 
its accomplishment, without any obstacle being able 
to arrest its rapid march. Who can resist God ? say 
the holy books. 



Cbapter Second. 

JOSEPHINE REVERDY, SPOUSE OF LOUIS RAIM- 
BAULT. 

Article First, — Josephine Reverdy, her Family, her Birth, 
her Youth, and her Marriage. 

The name of Josephine's father was Stephen Reverdy; 
he was keeper of the property of the Marquis de Vogue 
at Boulleret ; he lived in the keeper's house in the 
woods, about one mile and a quarter from the town ; 
the place was called Jarrier. He was a perfectly hon- 
est man, frank and loyal. He died at the home of his 
daughter at Boulleret, the 18th of November, 1881, at 
the age of 71 years. He was a good Christian, but be- 
cause of his employment, — there was only one Mass at 
Boulleret, — sometimes he failed to hear Mass on Sun- 
day, and sometimes let Easter pass without confession. 
Five years before he died he became regular in his 
religious duties and made a happy death, in the arms 
of his privileged daughter. 

Josephine's mother is still living. She is a very pious 
woman, having a great spirit of faith and accepting 
with patience and resignation the state of victim of her 
daughter. 

They had nine children. Josephine was the sixth ; 
she was born at Jarrier the 13th of May, 1854, on 
Saturday, at n o'clock in the morning. 

She had the typhoid fever at the age of six years. 
Her family, at one moment, believed her dead: her 
father, following the custom of the country, took off the 

26 



3osepfyme HetJerby, Spouse of £outs Hatmbault. 27 

garment she wore and was putting on another, when 
she began to breathe and return to consciousness. 
She had the same disease at the age of fifteen, but it 
was less grave. Since her first illness, Josephine has 
always suffered with heart trouble. 

As soon as her age and strength permitted, she went 
to the school at Boulleret, kept by some religious, who 
have their motherhouse at Bourges. She made her 
first communion the 31st of May, 1866, was received in 
the sodality of the Blessed Virgin, and became a pious 
child of Mary. She continued at school some time 
longer, then remained at home to aid her mother in 
the work and care of the house and family. 

Josephine is above the middle height. Her fore- 
head is high, large, and square ; her face oval. Her 
eyes are very large and intelligent ; her expression 
modest, but firm and resolute ; her face very pale, 
but not thin, with lips the color of yellow wax. She 
is very intelligent and has a wonderful memory ; her 
will is strong, powerful, and steadfast, unshaken, when 
there is question of obedience to her ecclesiastical 
superiors, as the Blessed Virgin recommended, when 
she appeared to her. Often she is inspired by God ; 
then she speaks as the prophets spoke ; and in her 
presence, no matter how scientific or learned her visitors 
may be, they remain mute, impressed and seized with 
admiration, as the Jews were when they heard the 
apostles announcing the Word of God, and whom they 
recognized as the fishermen of Genesareth from whom 
they had but recently bought fish. 

When Josephine had attained the age of seventeen 
years, her parents married her to a young man of 
Savigny, a village about five miles from Boulleret. 



2& 3°sepl]tne Het>erby, Spouse of £oui5 Hctimbcmlt. 



Louis Raimbault, husband of the seeress, was born at 
Savigny, the 20th of November, 1844; consequently 
he is ten years older than his wife. Their marriage 
took place the 31st of July, 187 1. 

His position in life is that of a sabot-maker. His 
shop at Boulleret is on the ground-floor of the house 
where he lives : the room of the seeress is on the first 
floor above. He is a little over the medium height, 
and has rather a delicate constitution. He is a per- 
fectly honest, good man, religious, of sweet disposition, 
and industrious, accepting, like all the family, the state 
of his wife as a victim. Such a man was well calcu- 
lated to be the husband of Josephine. 

Article Second. — Why the Blessed Virgin appeared to a 
Married Woman. 

Some persons, on learning that Josephine is married, 
will not believe in her apparitions, and say it is not 
possible that the Blessed Virgin appears to a married 
woman having children. We do not know what ideas 
these persons can have of the married state. Marriage 
was instituted by God from the creation of the world, 
when He said to Adam and Eve, the first man and 
woman : " Increase and multiply and fill the earth/' 
Marriage is a sacrament which spouses receive at the 
foot of the altar. Many of the saints whose feasts we 
celebrate every year sanctified themselves in this state. 
Anna Maria Tai'gi, who died at Rome June 9th, 1837, 
and who has been declared Venerable by the Church, 
was married to a domestic and had seven children. 
When she commenced to have apparitions she spoke 
of this to her confessor, who, like herself, erred in being 
astonished that Heaven would manifest itself to a poor 



Josephine Hereroy, Spouse of louts Katmbault. 29 

married woman, and enjoined her to say to Our Lord 
the first time He appeared to her, that He should take 
back the gifts which He granted her and communicate 
them to the virgins of the cloister rather than to a 
woman of her condition. What was the response of 
Our Lord ? He replied that God is at liberty to do as 
He wills ; that no one must have the audacity to wish 
to penetrate His secrets, and that in future her con- 
fessor must confine himself to his duty and nothing 
more. 

Thus God is free ; Our Lord and the most holy Vir- 
gin are at liberty to do what they will, and to appear 
to whom they will, to the virgins of the cloister or to 
persons living in the world and married and having 
children ; to saints operating miracles, or to sinners, 
like St. Paul, or to public sinners who were converted, 
like Mary Magdalene. No one must have the audacity 
to wish to penetrate the secrets of God. When we do 
not comprehend the reason of the action of God 
towards men (we will understand it in heaven), we 
must submit our inclinations, and say with respect, 
O my God, Thou art infinitely powerful, just, and wise ; 
may Thy will be done and not ours. O my God, grant 
that our faith may become always stronger, our love 
more ardent, and our humility more profound. 

Article Third. — Josephi?ie, Victim and Prophetess. 

There are some persons who are only victims ; others 
who are seeresses only. The seeress Anna Maria Tai'gi 
was a victim only from the time when, to try and drive 
away the chastisements that Rome merited, she 
offered herself to God as a victim. Others are at the 
same time victims and seeresses, as St. Colette of Bel- 



30 3oscpt]tnc He^ercy, Spouse of £ouis Hcumbcmlt. 

gium and a great number of other saints, particularly 
holy women, and as Josephine of Boulleret. 

Among the victims some are voluntary, offering 
themselves to God, like Anna Maria ; others who do 
not ask this state, but accept it like Josephine. In 
general, the victim, chosen by God and predestined to 
suffering is ignorant of the choice that Heaven has 
made of her. Josephine has been chosen by God to 
be a victim for the conversion of sinners, the salvation 
and triumph of the Church, of Rome, and France, and 
Our Lady of the Seven Dolors made known to her, in 
the apparition of the 17th of March, 1876, the choice 
that God had made of her. 

The condition of victim in Josephine declared itself 
eight months after her marriage. It consists of con- 
tinual sufferings more or less great, that she experiences 
in every part of her body, " from the sole of her foot 
to the top of her head," according to her own expres- 
sion. She sometimes endures unheard-of sufferings, 
which are greater during Lent, and they would already 
have caused her death a thousand times, if God had 
not preserved her. Her state as victim consists prin- 
cipally in vomiting blood with great and painful 
efforts ; then she takes scarcely any nourishment, some- 
times none at all. When the vomitings take place she 
passes several months drinking only a few drops of 
water. She vomits no less than seven times a day, 
from the rising to the setting of the sun, sometimes 
fourteen times or more, always increased by seven, in 
honor of the most holy Virgin, who appears to her 
under the form of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. 

During certain months, like that of St. Joseph and 
of the Holy Rosary, she raises only bile and corrupt 



3oscpbutc Kcperby, Spouse of £outs Hatmbemlt. 31 

matter. When the great vomitings take place, in the 
months of February, March, and April, she is obliged 
to remain in bed on account of her weakness. Generally 
in the latter part of the month of June, with the help of 
her oldest daughter or husband, she rises about 11 
o'clock in the morning and retires again at five or six 
in the evening. During that time she knits stockings 
for her family. Since the 13th of May, 1883, the Blessed 
Virgin, who appeared to her on this day, exempted her 
from the vomitings until the end of September. 

The vomitings have "not always been regular. In the 
month of March, 1876, she vomited everything of which 
she partook. On the 24th of March, of this year, the 
Blessed Virgin announced to her that she would vomit 
during two entire weeks and then every Saturday for a 
year. She then commenced to raise blood. The fifty- 
second and last Saturday of these vomitings was the 
7th of April, 1877 ; they took place on this day, and 
were then suspended until the 5th of September ; after 
that they took place every day except Saturday, until 
the 7th of December. The 8th of December the most 
holy Virgin appeared to her, and said : " My daughter, 
thou wilt be stretched on thy cross, never more to leave 
it, the third of February next (1878) ; never again wilt 
thou be separated from it until the day of thy judg- 
ment. Thou wilt vomit every day of the week with 
the exception of Saturdays, which are reserved in my 
honor. These vomitings will be irregular, sometimes 
more, sometimes less. But thou wilt not have fewer 
than seven critical turns in a day. God permits thee, 
on the principal feasts of the year, and for particular 
intentions, on other days than Saturdays, to approach 
the holy table and receive the bread of life, which will 



3osepfytne Her>erby, Spouse of iouis Hcttmbault. 



augment grace in thee and fortify thy soul and body in 
the midst of thy cruel torments. But frequent com- 
munions must not be made with the intention of being 
preserved from the vomitings, for these communions 
will not have any merit, and at the moment when thou 
wilt approach the holy table God will provoke the 
vomiting, thus putting an obstacle to thy communion." 
Josephine does not vomit the day she receives com- 
munion. Since the year 1883, as we said before, the 
Blessed Virgin, in appearing to her on the 13th of 
May, exempted her from vomiting until the end of 
September. 

They counted in the space of three months, we do 
not know in what year, that she had 6,000 vomitings, 
and calculated she had raised over 376 quarts of blood, 
without taking scarcely any nourishment. Sometimes 
she raises clotted blood, which she, or others about her, 
are obliged to take from her mouth with their fingers. 
When the vomitings take place, she always has a basin, 
which she holds on her knees when the crisis seizes 
her. When she becomes faint, some person is obliged 
to be near her to support her head and hold the basin. 
When she raises clotted blood and takes it herself from 
her mouth, her fingers, her hands, her garments, and 
the bed-clothes are covered with blood, as was the 
body of our divine Redeemer, and the cross likewise, 
which was also bathed with His blood. From time to 
time the husband of the victim is obliged to leave his 
work, go up to her room and take the basin, full of 
blood, down to the garden and empty it. When the 
blood is clotted he digs a hole in the ground, and, 
throwing it in, covers it, to prevent the dogs from eat- 
ing it. 



3osepbtne Het>croy, Spouse of £outs Kctimbault. 33 

The reader will ask, perhaps, why these vomitings 
of blood ? Josephine is a victim for the salvation and 
triumph of the Church and of France, as our divine 
Saviour was a victim for the redemption of the world ; 
for this redemption of men Our Lord shed His blood 
on the cross ; thus, for the salvation of France, of 
Rome, and the Church, Josephine sheds her blood. It 
is of little moment whether blood be shed from the 
feet and hands, or the mouth ; it is always the blood, 
without the effusion of which, says St. Paul, there is no 
remission. Josephine is not the first victim who raised 
blood. Some day history will speak at length of the 
vomiting of Josephine, so extraordinary and abundant, 
and of which we have not had another such example. 
Josephine not only sheds her blood from her mouth, 
but from the wound in her side. This wound, made 
by the demon with a poignard, opens sometimes on 
Good Friday, and the blood flows from it, as it did from 
the side and heart of Our Saviour, opened by the lance 
of the centurion. 1 

Josephine is a victim ; she is also a prophetess. 
During fifteen years the Blessed Virgin appeared to her 
more than forty times. For some years Our Lord 
showed Himself to her visiblv, at the same time with 
His holy Mother. Several times she has also seen the 
archangel Michael and St. Teresa in her apparitions. 

The devil appeared to Josephine, seeking to seduce 
her by offering her money, so as to make her renounce 
her apparitions ; he then essayed to kill her ; God per- 
mitted this, as He permitted His divine Son to be 
tempted in the desert by this vile serpent ; as He per- 

1 This wound did not open or shed blood after the victim had 
reached the age of 33 years. 
3 



34 3osepl]trte Hererby, Spouse of £outs Hatmbcmlt. 

mitted him to persecute the greater number of the 

saints, and, in our days, the venerable Anna Maria 

Taigi and the holy Cure of Ars, as we read in their 
lives. 



Cbapter Cbirfc* 

APPARITIONS OF BOULLERET. 

Article First, — Apparition of the nth of December, 1875. 

After her marriage, which took place on the 31st of 
July, 187 1, Josephine went to live with her husband at 
Savigny. Eight months after, she fell sick, and re- 
turned to Jarrier to receive the care of her mother. 
She remained there until November 1, 1878, when she 
went to Boulleret, where her husband had established 
himself, the most holy Virgin having expressed the de- 
sire that she should reside in this parish until her 
death. 

They called a physician, then several others, but 
these doctors could not cure her, and declared they 
did not even know the nature of her malady. Her 
right side was entirely paralyzed, one eye being almost 
closed and the sight nearly destroyed. Nevertheless, 
one year after her marriage, on the 16th of July, 1872, 
she was happily delivered of a daughter, whom they 
called Ernestine. 

In the month of July, 1875, Josephine, always ill, made 
a novena to Our Lady of Lourdes to obtain her cure. 
Her prayers were not granted, for the present, at least. 
Her condition grew worse, her physicians having aban- 
doned her for a long time, when, on the nth of De- 
cember, 1875, about ten o'clock in the morning, the 
Blessed Virgin suddenly appeared to her. 

35 



36 Apparitions of Boutteret 

The most holy Virgin was visible only as far as her 
cincture. Her countenance was of ravishing beauty ; 
above her eyes, which were of great purity, Josephine 
read these words : Love and humility ; on her lips : 
Have confidence in God and the holy Virgin, thy cure will 
be granted thee ; between the half open arms : Follow me, 
I will conduct thee to heaven. The most holy Virgin 
disappeared, and Josephine felt herself cured. The 
paralysis no longer existed, the eye which had been 
closed was open and full of life. Christmas day, Jose- 
phine went to Boulleret, fasting, to assist at High Mass 
and go to holy communion. Her unknown malady, or 
rather supernatural illness, disappeared all at once, 
having lasted nearly four years. 

Article Second. — Apparition of the 16th of March, 1876. 

The 1 6th of March, 1876, towards seven o'clock in 
the morning, as Josephine was preparing to go to Boul- 
leret to assist at Mass, the most holy Virgin showed 
herself to her at the entrance of her chamber. She 
was again only visible to her cincture. Her arms were 
half open, as a priest holds them at Mass, when he says 
the prayers of the preface and the Pater. Her eyes 
were raised to heaven. Her veil was white mixed with 
black. She then turned her gaze on Josephine and said 
to her : 

" Receive the graces that God grants thee, with 
gratitude and thanksgiving. He blesses thee according 
to thy merit. Sometimes thy prayers are less fervent 
and but little worthy of being presented to God. Thy 
cure is almost complete, but thy health will never be 
well established nor perfect. Suffer with patience and 
resignation. Be humble, sweet, modest, and docile. 






2Ippartttorts of Boutleret. 37 

Pray for the incredulous; follow my counsels until thy 
last hour. Farewell, dear child." 

On hearing these words, Josephine, who believed 
herself cured, began to weep, but she submitted to the 
will of God. 

Article Third — Apparition of the 17 th of March, 18 j6. — ■ 
Josephine is Chosen as Victim. 

The following day, the 17th, at the same hour as the 
day before, with the same garments and having the same 
attitude, the most holy Virgin appeared to Josephine 
and said to her : " I am she who has directed thee, 
worthy child of Mary. God wills to make thee the victim 
of this parish for the co?iversion of sinners. Thy suffer- 
ings are far from being ended ! In heaven, my country ! " 

Article Fourth. — Apparition of the 24th of March, 1876. 

After the apparition of the 17th of March Josephine 
had a relapse of her malady. From the 20th of March 
she raised everything of which she partook. On the 
24th, at three o'clock in the afternoon, having retired to 
her chamber, she asked herself if, because of her vomit- 
ing, she could go to holy communion the following day, 
feast of the Annunciation. The most holy Virgin ap- 
peared to her, visible as before only to the cincture, her 
hands clasped and her eyes fixed on her. She said to 
her in response to her thought if she could communi- 
cate the following day : 

" God grants thee this grace in honor of the most 
holy Virgin. Pray and watch over thyself. Thy vomit- 
ings will continue for the next two weeks and every 
Saturday for a year. Be no longer uneasy and be 
prudent." 



38 Jtpparttions of .Soulteret. 

The following day Josephine did not vomit and was 
able to receive holy communion. Then the vomiting 
recommenced and continued during a year, as the 
Blessed Virgin had announced. Sometimes she had as 
many as 170 crises in a day. Several times they be 
lieved that she was about to breathe her last sigh. 

Article Fifth. — Apparition of the gth of April, 1877. 

For one year the most holy Virgin did not appear to 
Josephine. The last Saturday announced for the vomit- 
ing (the fifty-second Saturday was the 7th of April), it 
took place as usual. Two days after, the 9th, about 
eight o'clock in the morning, the most holy Virgin 
showed herself to her in her full height, as she appeared 
to her henceforth. She was clothed in a robe and veil 
of white, on a black foundation. She said to Josephine : 

" My child, thy vomitings are terminated, but it will 
not be of long duration, for thou must again suffer. 
They will return on the approaching 9th of September, 
and continue every day of the week except Saturday, 
which will be reserved in honor of the Blessed Virgin, 
until the 7th of December, eve of the Immaculate Con- 
ception. And these vomitings will take place at differ- 
ent parts of the day and not at night." 

Josephine said : " Who are you and what do you 
wish of me ? " The apparition replied : 

" It is not necessary, my daughter, to know who I am 
in order to follow my counsels ; but, after what has 
passed, thou must no longer doubt. I wish that in all 
simplicity thou wilt pray and suffer with patience for 
the conversion of sinners. 

" See why I deprive thee of the happiness of making 
known my name in the world : thou must be very pure, 



Apparitions of ^oulleret. 39 



and thou knowest thy conduct was not always very 
regular in thy youth, before thy marriage. This con- 
cerns thee personally, thou mayest keep it secret. 
Thou wilt communicate on Saturday, in place of Fri- 
day, but not without the authorization of thy confessor; 
be prudent about this permission, for he will give it to 
thee without thy asking it from him.' , 

It must not astonish us if Josephine interrogated the 
apparition and asked who she was, for the Blessed 
Virgin had not yet told her name, and many persons 
felt sure that it was the devil who appeared to her. 
Josephine, through a spirit of humility, did not fear to 
make known the reproach that the most holy Virgin 
addressed to her. To be a worthy child of Mary, the 
Mother of all purity, our souls must be very pure, and 
consequently exempt, not only from mortal sins, but 
even from venial ones. Particularly, there must be 
great purity in the soul of a prophetess to whom Jesus, 
His holy Mother, and the angels and saints appear 
visibly. 

As the holy Virgin had announced, the confessor of 
Josephine said to her, of himself, that she was to go to 
holy communion on Saturday and not on Friday. The 
prediction touching the vomiting was also accomplished, 
as she had been told. 

Article Sixth. — Apparition of the yth of September, 
1877. 

On the 7th of September, 1877, the Blessed Virgin 
appeared to Josephine at three o'clock in the afternoon. 
She was vested in a white robe ; her heart was on her 
breast ; it was red and transpierced with seven swords. 
She said : 



40 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

" Courage ! courage ! my child, courage ! Do not 
lose courage ! For on Sunday thou must re-enter into a 
state of great suffering and penance ! Do not complain 
when thou wilt feel it : for, if thou knowest how to 
surfer as thou shouldst, God will recompense thee well. 
Sometimes I hear thee pronounce these words of de- 
spair : * What, then, have I done, my God ! that I suffer 
so much ? " 

At this moment the Blessed Virgin showed her heart, 
with her two hands, and continued : 

" See my poor heart pierced with seven swords and 
rent with sorrow ! What, then, has it done to suffer so 
much and be so injured ? It is your sins, so often 
renewed, which cause these sufferings ; notwithstanding, 
I am not weary of suffering for you ! Behold why God 
chose this kind of suffering : it is to make our poor 
children, ungrateful and hardened sinners, comprehend 
that if they will not be converted, when they will ap- 
pear before God at the day of their judgment it will no 
more be possible for Him to receive them in heaven 
than it is possible for thy stomach to digest a glass of 
water on the days that I predict it to thee. 

" Pray and suffer much for this poor France, for it is 
certain if she does not cease her scandals toward God, 
He will send her great malediction s." 

Article Seventh. — Apparition of the 8th of September, 1877. 

The following day, about seven o'clock in the morn- 
ing, while Josephine was preparing to go to Mass, the 
most holy Virgin appeared to her. She smiled, and 
said : 

" My child, do not allow thyself to sink into despair. 
Why trouble thyself thus ? I demand nothing more than 



2lppanttous of Sonlleret. 41 

thou canst do ; do not preoccupy thyself with what the 
world will say. Follow my counsels, and thou wilt be 
happy." 

The vomitings returned to Josephine the 9th of Sep- 
tember, and with them an extreme weakness, which 
kept her nailed to her bed of pain. 

Article Eighth. — Apparition of the 2Qth of September, 
iSjj. Our Lady of the Seven Dolors shows her 
Heart, Rent and Torn, to Josephine. 

The 29th of September, Josephine was waiting for 
the cure' to come and bring her holy communion, when 
the most holy Virgin appeared to her, having her heart 
transpierced with seven swords on her breast ; she 
wept and said to her : 

" Poor child, why art thou so sad and torment thy- 
self so on this point ? Have I not told thee to remain 
in peace in the midst of the sufferings that God sends 
thee, and the tribulations that try thee on the part of 
the world ? But it is necessary that I console thee, 
notwithstanding my great sufferings, my afflictions, and 
my desolations ! Remember that I do not abandon 
thee for a single instant. I am always near thee to 
solace and fortify thee in thy great fatigue and weak- 
ness. It is true that thou dost suffer much, but thou 
dost not suffer alone ; must I open my heart to thee 
to prove yet more what are the sufferings I receive on 
the part of sinners ? "' 

At this moment her heart half opened, revealing a 
large wound ; it was all inflamed and it remained thus 
until the vision ended. 

" Judge now if there can be any sorrows greater or 
even resembling mine! Yes, my child, there are, but 



42 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

they are those of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This God of 
love suffered from His birth, He will suffer until the 
end of time. And for whom does He suffer ? For 
barbarous, senseless, and indifferent men, who will not 
serve Him, nor recognize Him for their God, and not 
even think of Him ; or if they do think of Him, it is 
only to profane and blaspheme Him ; a God who nour- 
ishes them and loads them with benefits ! And for a 
mark of gratitude, they revenge themselves on Him 
and revolt against Him. He opens His heart to them, 
and they enter it, only to rend, outrage, and pierce it 
with a thousand spears. Can a father and mother who 
love their children abandon them ? No, we will not 
abandon them, but God will punish them, for He is 
irritated >and it is impossible for me to appease His just 
anger. . . . He will strike France with all kinds of mis- 
fortunes and afflictions." 

Then she raised her eyes to heaven and wept abun- 
dantly. 

" Poor France ! after having been privileged, she 
will then be punished on account of her pride, her 
malice, and her ingratitude. 

" My child, if I weep it is not the sorrows of my 
heart which cause my tears, but it is the ingratitude and 
the loss of our unhappy children, who every day allow 
themselves to be carried away by the demon over the 
precipice into the eternal abyss of hell. Fear not to 
proclaim all I annowice to thee and all that is operated in 
thee : above all, tell thy confessor and director that I de- 
pend entirely on this, that he make it known and propa- 
gate it. And I desire also that the seven dolors of my 
heart be honored in favor of poor sinners. Thou canst 
divulge to thy director that I order the incredulous to 



Apparitions of Sonlleret. 43 

shut themselves up during three months, without taking 
any other nourishment than water, and that by some 
means they make themselves to vomit, even if it be only 
five times a day, and at the end of three months, if they 
are still in existence and have strength to walk across 
their room, ah, well ! they will then have the right to 
say that everything that passes in thee is completely 
false." 

After a moment of silence, the Apparition added : 

" My child, I had the intention of concealing my 
name from thee as a punishment ; but seeing thee at 
times so uneasy, so troubled, and afflicted on this sub- 
ject, and especially by the questions that one and an- 
other put to thee ; ah, well ! in order to tranquillize and 
reassure thee, I will declare who I am, so that thou 
wilt have the courage and strength to proclaim my 
glory, in the midst of the sufferings which thou dost 
accept with such resignation and submission to the 
holy will of God and of mine. . . . I am the Mother of 
God and thy Mother most dear, 7^'ho will come to 7'isit 
thee visibly until thy deaths 

After another moment of silence, the holy Virgin 
added : 

" Pray much and redouble thy fervor to obtain the 
conversion of France, and that God will give peace to 
His Church. 

"It is not very astonishing that God will punish His 
children. What horrible sacrileges are committed 
every day, especially on the part of women ? Young 
women lose their virginity ; married women are living 
in adultery : and these are the sins most odious in our 
eyes and offend us the most. They present themselves 
to the minister of Jesus Christ and do not accuse them- 



44 Apparitions of Boulkret. 

selves of these sins so grave and abominable. They 
deceive their confessor, but they cannot deceive God. 
And then they have the hardihood to go and present 
themselves at the sacred banquet, to receive the Body 
and Blood of my divine Son in like dispositions. It 
would be better for these persons enchained by the 
demon that they never approached the sacraments, for 
they augment the sufferings of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 
and plunge themselves deeper in hell" 

Article Ninth. — Apparition of the 28th of October, 1877. 

The most holy Virgin appeared to Josephine the 
28th of October, at two o'clock in the afternoon. She 
had her arms half open. In her right hand she held 
a crown of white roses, double, just about to open ; 
in her left, a black cross, over two inches wide and 
about six inches long. She said to Josephine : 

" Courage and confidence, my dear child ! To merit 
this crown (she presents it), it is necessary to suffer 
(she withdraws it), and to know how to carry this cross. " 
(She presents it, then takes it back.) She continued : 

" Do not fear to say to the persons who surround 
thee, that Thursday next, feast of All Saints, thou wilt 
have only twenty crises of vomitings from morning 
until night." 

On the day of All Saints, Josephine had only twenty 
crises of vomiting. 

Article Tenth. — Appa?'ition of the 21st of November, 1877. 
— Promise of the Most Holy Virgi?i to preserve from 
all Danger those who will Honor the Seven Wounds of 
her Heart. 

The 2 1 st of November, at 11 o'clock in the night, 



Apparitions of BonUeret. 45 

eleven persons at that time being in the room with 
Josephine, the most holy Virgin appeared to her with 
her heart transpierced with seven swords, and said to 
her : 

" My child, calm thy uneasiness. 

" Recommend every one, especially pious persons, 
to pray for the Church, for the clergy and the Sovereign 
Pontiff, for France and for the conversion of sinners. 
Behold how I desire the seven wounds of my heart to 
be honored : by a confraternity established in this 
parish — the members to recite every day the chaplet of 
my seven dolors, and the Hail Mary of Our Lady of 
Compassion. Every one who will take part in this 
work, I will bless and preserve from all danger.'' 

Article Eleventh, — Apparition of the 1st of December, 
18 J7- — Desire of the Most Holy Virgin that fosephine 
Reside until her Death at Boulleret. She promises her 
the Crown of Martyrs. 

Josephine had vomited during three months ; the 
1st of December, there being at that time nineteen 
persons in her room, the Blessed Virgin appeared to her 
and announced her cure, temporarily, as the vomitings 
would return on the 3d of February. She addressed to 
her these words : 

" My child, thou wilt be cured the 8th of December, 
and I will give thee strength to go and assist at the holy 
sacrifice of the Mass in the parish church. 

" I desire most earnestly, for many particular reasons, 
that thou wilt reside here until thy last sigh. 

" And at the same time thou canst take any kind of 
nourishment without fear that thy stomach cannot 
digest it. 



46 2Ippartttcms of Boulleret. 

" In all the pains and grievous situations in which 
thou wilt find thyself, call me always to thy succor and 
I will intercede for thee. Never ask anything without 
desiring at the same time that the will of God be done. 
A prayer thou makest to me in this disposition will 
never be without some fruit. 

' ' There are some persons who recommend themselves 
to thy prayers, with the intention that I will obtain for 
them what they know well not to be the will of God, 
and others who never think of invoking me only when 
they are in affliction or are troubled about the goods of 
the earth. Ought they expect to have their prayers 
granted ? No, if I pray for them, it is not to obtain 
what they demand and what might be hurtful to them, 
but something of which they are not thinking and that 
will be useful to them. Ah, well ! my dear child, I 
will do the same for thee. I will ask God to send thee 
great afflictions, that they will detach thee from the 
earth and make thee think of heaven. Above all do 
not abandon thy cross of sorrow, so that thou wilt 
receive the crown of martyrs which I have promised 
thee." 

Article Twelfth. — Apparition oftheyth of December, 18JJ. 

On the eve of the feast of the Immaculate Concep- 
tion of Mary, Josephine had seventy crises of vomiting. 
At midnight she was cured. She arose, dressed herself, 
and showed herself to a crowd of fifty persons who had 
come to assist at this miraculous cure announced by 
the Blessed Virgin. The remainder of the night she 
passed in prayer. 

At eight o'clock, as Josephine was leaving the house 
with a score of persons to go and assist at Mass, the 



Apparitions of 23oullcrct. 47 

Blessed Virgin showed herself to her. She held in her 
right hand a crown of white roses, and in her left a 
black cross. Her robe was white ; she smiled, and said : 

" It has then arrived, this happy day of my Im- 
maculate Conception, which thou hast so much desired 
during the three months thou hast lain on thy bed 
of sorrow. What joy and happiness dost thou not ex- 
perience at this moment ! But it will soon vanish ! 
It seems to thee that thou art relieved of this hard 
and heavy cross, never more to take it up ; but it will 
not be thus, for God has chosen thee for a victim. 
He has predestined thee for suffering ; He has designs 
on thee ; He will execute them until the last breath of 
thy life ! . . . This is what He wishes of thee : to bid 
adieu to the world, to its vain objects and its false 
pleasures, and that thou abandon thyself entirely to 
suffering ; that thou prefer, desire, and love suffering 
more than all the delights and vanities of this unjust 
and deceitful world ! 

u Yes, my dear daughter, thou wilt again take up 
the cross thou didst leave until the 3d of February 
next, never more to be separated from it until the day 
of thy judgment ! 

11 Thou wilt vomit every day of the week, except 
Saturdays, which will be reserved in my honor, as I 
announced to thee the 9th of April last. This vomit- 
ing will be irregular, sometimes more, sometimes less, 
But thou wilt never have less than seven each day. 

" God grants and permits thee, also on the principal 
feasts of the year, or for some particular intentions 
which will be other than Saturdays, to approach the 
holy table to receive the Bread of Life, which will aug- 
ment grace in thee and fortify thy soul and body in 



48 Apparitions of 23oullerct. 

the midst of thy cruel sorrows. But thou must not 
make frequent communions with the intention of being 
preserved from vomiting, for these communions will 
not have any merit, and at the moment when thou 
goest to approach the holy table, God will provoke 
thy vomiting and put an obstacle to thy communion. 

u Now, go and receive my divine Son at the foot of 
the tabernacle, and above all humility and obedience." 

Article Thirteenth. — Apparition of the ist of February, 

1878. 

The most holy Virgin appeared to Josephine on the 
istof February, 1878. She wore a white robe, held a 
crown of white roses in her right hand and a black 
cross in her left ; she said to Josephine : 

" My poor daughter, thy vacations are finished, and 
the hour of thy suffering and penance has come. Yes, 
it has come, this hour, when thou must again take thy 
cross, never more to leave it until the moment of re- 
ceiving thy eternal crown. In bearing this dolorous 
cross I wish thee to follow entirely the rule I will give 
thee, for thou art far from being filled with all per- 
fections, which are : humility, obedience, piety, modesty, 
charity, sweetness, patience, resignation, a great courage, 
and a sincere fidelity. 

" Now r here is the rule for thy nourishment during 
thy life : I order thee to take a cup of broth after thy 
last crisis. Every time thou wilt have the happiness of 
receiving my divine Son, thou canst take any kind of 
nourishment. If I permit thee to take this nourish- 
ment every time that thou wilt have the happiness of 
receiving the God of the Eucharist, it is simply to give 
satisfaction to thy relatives." 



Apparitions of ^onllcrct. 49 

Josephine said : " But, my good Mother, how will I 
be able to take this nourishment, when it was almost 
impossible, during the three months that have just 
passed, to take even some drops of water." 

The holy Virgin replied, with a slightly severe look : 

" Hast thou any reason which can make thee doubt 
my power ? Has not all that I announced to thee been 
realized ? Dost thou not see that even in my pres- 
ence thou hast failed in confidence ? " 

The holy Virgin was silent a moment, then she re- 
sumed : 

" Sometimes, my dear child, in the midst of thy 
afflictions and the weight of. thy sorrows, thou wilt in 
thy agony fail in strength and courage, in such a man- 
ner that it will be impossible to go and receive the 
Bread of Angels at the foot of the tabernacle. But 
every time thou dost feel strong enough to assist at the 
offices, even besides the Saturdays, do not fear to go 
and assist, for God will never permit that thou be in- 
terrupted by a crisis of vomiting during the office. . . . 
And now farewell till to-morrow." 

The Blessed Virgin disappeared. 

Article Fourteenth. — Apparition of the 2d of February, 

1S78. 

The most holy Virgin, as the evening before, was 
vested in white, and had a crown of white roses in her 
right hand ; the cross that she held in her left hand 
was larger than before. She said to the victim : 

" Speak, my child." 

Josephine addressed to the holy Virgin this re- 
quest, which she had not thought of in advance : 

" My good Mother, since vou are truly my Mother, 
4 



50 Apparitions of Boullcret. 

have the goodness, if you please, to operate something 
more miraculous, so that the incredulous will believe 
and be converted. " 

The holy Virgin replied : 

" God has no need of subjecting Himself further 
to His people. He is the Master, and He knows well 
what He does. For the rest, do not trouble thy con- 
science on this subject. Let the incredulous who are 
restless agitate themselves as much as they wish. 
For thee, follow always the line I have traced for thee ; 
fear not to be led astray, and, at the end of thy pilgrim- 
age, thou wilt have to render simply an account of 
thyself alone, and not of others. They deceive men 
on the earth, but they cannot deceive God. He sees 
all that passes "in them ; He knows all hearts, the 
pure and the impure. He knows what they say, what 
they think, what they desire, and how they pass their 
time. Then, at the end of their career, He will judge 
them Himself." 

She stopped a moment, then resumed : 

" Yesterday, my dear daughter, I reproached thee, 
and to-day I come to console thee, not to make thee 
proud, but to encourage thee yet more. The sadness, 
affliction, and bitterness that formerly filled thy heart 
on seeing the approach of sorrow exists no more. I 
am content with thy calmness and resignation. Cour- 
age, my daughter, I come to aid thee carry thy heavy 
cross ; I come to share all the tears thou hast shed 
and that thou must yet shed ! I come to partake of 
all the pains, humiliations, privations, and tribulations 
which thou hast received and which thou must yet 
receive. Courage, my daughter, all these sufferings 
are the roses which will form thy crown. I have known 



; 



Apparitions or Bonlleret. 



and carried before thee the dolorous weight of the 
cross which makes thee groan. Reanimate thy cour- 
age and raise thy eyes towards heaven. It is there 
thou wilt find the recompense promised for thy long- 
sorrows ! " 

She stopped anew, then continued : 

" Thou seest. my dear child, thou art not yet de- 
livered from the pains of this world ; thou wilt be 
chastised, calumniated, and despised until thy last 
breath. But even if it should happen that thou must 
be imprisoned, stoned, or martyred, do not fail in con- 
fidence, for only one instant of infidelity would suffice 
to make thee lose thy crown. Rise, come and touch 
this cross, that it may give thee strength and courage 
to carry thine own. Touch also the crown, that it may 
show thee, as it well knows, how to ease the sorrows of 
thy cross." 

Josephine raised herself, touched the black cross 
and felt a very great pain ; then she touched the crown 
and experienced great joy and consolation, after which 
the most holy Virgin disappeared. 

Article Fifteenth. — Apparition of the 2jth of Mareh, 
iSyS. — ** I am Our Lady of the Seven Dol 

The 25th of March of the same year, 1S7S, the most 
holy Virgin having on her bosom her heart pierced 
with seven swords, holding a black cross in one hand 
and a crown of white roses in the other, showed her- 
self to Josephine. One rose was gone from the crown. 
She said : 

Seest thou what is wanting in thv crown ? " 

Josephine : — " It is a rose." 

" Pay attention not to lose the entire crown, for the 



Apparitions of BouIIeret. 



rose that is missing is a mark of thy infidelity. How ! 
after having informed thee of all that would come to 
pass at the moment of trial, thou allowest thyself to 
fall into despair and impatience ? It is true thou 
canst feel weariness and grief, and shed some tears, 
but I wish thee to preserve calmness, patience, and 
courage. If God has chosen thee for a victim, it is not 
that thou mayest experience joy and happiness in this 
world. Have I not recommended thee to bid adieu to 
the earth and to banish the deceitful pleasures that 
leave in the remembrance and in the hearts of those 
who accept them only weariness and remorse ? Ah, 
well ! inasmuch as thou dost not tread under foot all 
things here below, and seek to serve God and please 
Him alone, thou wilt be tried by anxiety and advance 
but little in virtue." 

The holy Virgin stopped a moment. 

" If thou dost not wish to support with courage and 
resignation the cross with which God has laden thee, 
how canst thou support the fire of purgatory ? For 
remember that no one will enter the kingdom of 
heaven without being purified in this life or in the 
other." 

Again the holy Virgin stopped an instant. 

" Come and touch this cross anew, in order to prove 
to thee yet more that thy sufferings are nothing in com- 
parison with those of purgatory." 

Josephine arose and went to touch the cross ; she 
felt throughout her whole being a most lively pain, 
physical and mental. 

" Ah, well ! my child, apply thyself to carry thy cross 
in order to avoid this one, which is a thousand times 
heavier than thine." 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 53 

Josephine retired a little, placed herself on her knees 
and said : 

" Yes, my good Mother, I will apply myself ! . . . I 
beg of you to pardon me ; I am ungrateful and un- 
worthy that you appear before me." 

These last words were heard by those assisting at 
the apparition. They saw also the gestures and move- 
ments of Josephine when she touched the cross. 

u Yes, my dear daughter, God pardons thee the fault 
thou hast committed. Calm thy uneasiness regarding 
the ridiculous objections they make about what I an- 
nounce and operate in thee. Be not disturbed, reassure 
thy trembling soul : / am Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors 1 " 

Tears fell from the eyes of the most holy Virgin. 

" I desire most ardently to be honored in this parish. 
My sorrows are not sufficiently known, and many of 
those w r ho do know them neither honor nor respect 
them enough. My heart is pierced through every day 
by a new r sword ! It is outraged as never before by 
ungrateful and rebellious sinners. But what afflicts me 
most is to see so many Christians, who, bearing the 
name of faithful, abuse the sacraments by eating so 
often a divine food with such bad dispositions. Yes 
(she raised her eyes to heaven), I tremble to see my 
divine Son profaned by unworthy and sacrilegious com- 
munions ! Poor sinners ! (She emphasized these words 
and followed them by casting her sad glance on the as- 
sistants.) Remember that the most secret sins will 
become public on the day of judgment ! " 

She remained silent an instant, then continued : 

" Above all, fear not to proclaim my glory and all 
that I announce to thee. Go, fear nothing ; I will be 



54 2Ippartttons of Soutteret. 

thy strength, thy support, and thy consolation in the 
midst of thy greatest afflictions." 

Josephine interrupted : 

" But, my good Mother, they will not believe me ; 
they wish some other proof." 

" Take courage, my child ; it is only by combating 
that one obtains the victory. Of what consequence is 
it what the incredulous say of thee ? As for the others, 
we will give them time to examine and study these acts, 
and by what follows they will see if this is not a mark 
of my power." 

She waited a moment. 

" Above all, wed not thy heart to the world ; be always 
ready to leave it. Confide in and attach thyself solely 
to thy divine Redeemer. When thou wilt be in grief, 
overwhelmed by the weight of thy sorrows, contem- 
plate the Passion of the divine Saviour and the seven 
dolors of my poor heart, and then thou wilt see if thy 
sufferings are comparable to ours. Let resignation be 
thy portion, for thou wilt shed tears until thy last 
hour. 

"Tell thy confessor that he will share with thee 
all that I direct, and that, no matter with what cross 
God burdens His servant, he must accept it with cour- 
age, patience, and resignation, in order to merit the 
eternal crown. Let him study how to endure all the 
calumnies that are spread on this subject. His crown 
will only be the more brilliant." 

The Blessed Virgin disappeared while turning her 
gaze on the assistants. 

Boulleret is a Calvary and Josephine an immolated 
victim : there are no miracles operated there, that is, no 
striking miracles (in the commencement, several mirac* 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 55 

ulous cures took place) ; for the truth would then be 
recognized and proclaimed by all, and this would be a 
triumph for Boulleret and the victim. The truth will 
be known and proclaimed by all probably only at the 
time of the salvation and the triumph of the Church, of 
Rome, and France : then the truth of the apparitions of 
Boulleret will be evident, and no one will deny them. 
Meanwhile let the incredulous refuse to believe ; for 
ourselves, let us console Our Lady of the Seven Dolors 
by our faith in Boulleret, and by our zeal in constantly 
honoring, according to her desire, the seven wounds of 
her heart, and to propagate, near and far, notwithstand- 
ing all obstacles, this sweet and pious devotion. 

Article Sixteenth. — Apparition of the 12th of April, 

1878. 

The most holy Virgin appeared on this day to 
Josephine. She had on her bosom her heart pierced 
with seven swords. She was seated, holding on her 
knees the inanimate body of her divine Son. The in- 
struments of the Passion w r ere suspended from a large 
cross standing near her. At the right, on the ground, 
was the crown of thorns. Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors said to Josephine : 

" See, my dear child, what the barbarity of men caused 
us, and what it still causes us incessantly. I see every 
day the wounds, the passion and death of my divine 
Son, not only renewed, but moreover rendered useless, 
by an ingratitude, an indifference, an impiety, and an 
incredulity without bounds. Nearly all Christians de- 
spise, deny, and disown us. We experience on their 
part only the most vile and bitter outrages. Therefore 
God sends His warnings ; and woe to them who do not 



56 Apparitions of 23oulleret. 



profit by them ! Yes, I repeat it, if the people do not 
cease to violate the commandments of God and the 
Church, France is on the eve of being chastised, for it 
is impossible for me to restrain much longer the arm 
of my divine Son. Consequently, say to thy confessor 
and director that I ask a confraternity and a com- 
munion of reparation of all pious and faithful souls, in 
favor of poor sinners who scandalize and profane my 
divine Son so often, even in the Sacrament of His love ! 
I also invite all good souls to unite themselves in their 
hearts to all the intentions that I address to thee, to 
obtain the conversion of France, and to appease the 
anger of God, that He will deign to give peace to His 
Church. 

" Approach, my child ; come nearer to contemplate 
the deep and innumerable wounds of the Saviour of 
the world and the wounds of my poor heart, that your 
sins so often make us feel." 

At these words Josephine approached on her knees, 
and she saw that the eyes of Christ were closed ; 
His body was ruddy and covered with fresh and 
gaping wounds. The forty-six witnesses knelt, fol- 
lowing with emotion the movements of Josephine. An 
inexpressible sadness was imprinted on her counte- 
nance ; her eyes were wet with tears in contemplating 
the deep and innumerable wounds of the Saviour of the 
world. She said to the most holy Virgin : 

" O my good Mother, how painful to me are your 
sufferings ! " 

The holy Virgin responded : 

" O my child, how sorrowful to us are your sins ! 
How dost thou dare to complain ? On the contrary, 
thou shouldst be happy that God has willed to choose 



Apparitions of Boullerct. 57 

thee for a victim, in order to be able to pity our suffer- 
ings." 

Josephine : — " Yes, my good Mother, I am happy, and 
I promise you never more to complain." 

There was silence for an instant between the Blessed 
Virgin and Josephine, then she made this request : 

" Permit me, my good Mother, if you please, to touch 
this crown." 

The holy Virgin replied : " No, my daughter, this 
crown is very sharp and at the same time very pre- 
cious ; it does not become thee." 

The Blessed Virgin was silent. The seeress re- 
sponded • 

" O my good Mother, I will be happy, if you per- 
mit me to touch only the foot of this cross ! " 

The Blessed Virgin : — " No, my child, this cross is 
very heavy ; thou canst not touch it." 

Then Josephine addressed to the Blessed Virgin a 
question with which the cure had charged her the pre- 
vious evening : " Must my confessor put in execution 
what you have requested of him ? " 

The apparition responded : 

" Yes, my child, I desire it ; but this is what thou 
must say to thy confessor : that I order him to address 
himself to the Prelate, and that he need not fear to 
confide to him all his distress, fears, and uneasiness, all 
that which I announce to thee and operate in thee, and 
to follow simply the counsels which are given him." 

The cure of Boulleret, without communicating his 
thoughts to Josephine, had contented himself by say- 
ing to her : " If you have an apparition to-morrow, ask 
if I must put my project in execution." The cure 
desired to know if the holy Virgin wished him to write 



58 Apparitions of Soulleret. 

to the Archbishop of Bourges, to ask his author- 
ization to establish in his parish the Confraternity of 
Our Lady of the Seven Dolors, ordered by the Blessed 
Virgin in the apparition of November nth, 1877. 

Mgr.de la Tour-d'Auvergne was then archbishop of 
Bourges. At this epoch, after each apparition, Jose- 
phine dictated to the cure of Boulleret all that she had 
seen and heard in her ecstasy. The following day 
the cure started for Bourges, and read this account to 
the archbishop. 

Mgr. de la Tour - d' Auvergne, believing that the appa- 
ritions of Boulleret were divine-supernatural, directed 
the cure to establish in his parish the confraternity 
requested by Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. The 
desire of the Blessed Virgin and the archbishop was 
not realized. God did not permit it, for the sorrows 
of the heart of Mary would have been honored only in 
Boulleret and by few persons, whereas God willed that 
this confraternity be established by a priest who was 
not attached to a parish, so that the devotion to Our 
Lady of the Seven Dolors would be propagated through- 
out France, Italy, etc., and the Confraternity of Boul- 
leret counts, to day, September 1st, 1889, more than 
53,000 associates. There is another reason, which we 
gave before : Boulleret is a Calvary and Josephine an 
immolated victim who must suffer in her body, in her 
mind, and her heart until the blood she sheds has ran- 
somed France. 

The number of associates, to-day, January 22d, 1891, 
is 116,450. 

Article Seventeenth. — Apparition of the 1st of May, 7878. 
On May 1st, about three o'clock in the afternoon, 



Apparitions of Boutterei 59 

Josephine, together with some pious persons, was 
chanting a canticle to the Blessed Virgin, when this 
good Mother appeared to her. She wore a white robe, 
and held a crown of white roses in her right hand and 
a black cross in her left. Her forehead was encircled 
with a wreath of white lilies interlaced with green 
leaves. She said : 

" My dear daughter, this day is the commencement 
of the beautiful month of Mary, and for this reason 
calm the distress of thy soul and think of honoring me 
and making me honored. Above all, continue to per- 
severe and conduct thyself as thou hast since my An- 
nunciation until to-day, for thy rose that was lost has 
been found again. Thou seest it has resumed its once 
vacant place. Thus, during this beautiful month which 
is so dear to me, God gives thee great alleviation in my 
honor, without thy having asked it. Thou wilt have 
but seven vomitings a day, and thou wilt not raise one 
drop of blood. They will consist only of bile and matter. 

" And be without uneasiness regarding all contradic- 
tions. At this time thou art again troubled. I will 
not cease to repeat, that thou must seek to please God 
alone, for it is He who will judge thee and not men. 
Thou canst say with a loud voice, that we order the 
most learned men to operate on another person the 
same marvels which we operate in thee, and if they 
succeed, we will permit them to say that these acts are 
entirely false. 

" Rise, my child, come and touch this crown : it will 
case thy sufferings." 

Josephine arose and went to touch the crown. She 
felt a great vigor, proof of the promised relief ; she had 
been suffering for several days, and notably at the hour 



60 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

of the apparition. She again fell upon her knees. 
The holy Virgin said to her : 

" Return and present me thy child, who is so dear to 
me." 

Josephine approached with her child, walking on her 
knees. An invincible force inclined her head on the 
shoulder of her child, in such a manner that she could 
not see what passed between the Blessed Virgin and the 
infant. Her little daughter Ernestine was then only 
five-and-a-half years old, and she no longer remembers 
this circumstance. Josephine again arose and retired. 
Then the Blessed Virgin said to her : 

" I will return and visit thee on the 13th and 31st of 
this month, about three o'clock in the afternoon. 
Above all, great humility, obedience, and patience. " 

The most holy Virgin, casting her eyes benevolently 
on the assembly, disappeared. 

Article Eighteenth. — Apparition of the ijth of May, 1878. 

The 13th of May, 1.878, about three o'clock in the 
afternoon, several persons were reciting the chaplet 
with Josephine in her chamber ; outside, the number 
who flocked at the announcement of an apparition was 
about a thousand. At the third decade of the chaplet 
the Blessed Virgin appeared. Her robe was white, her 
heart pierced with seven swords was on her breast ; 
her eyes were raised towards heaven. They heard 

Josephine say : " If you are disappear." As we 

mentioned before, certain persons had said to Josephine 
that it was the demon who appeared to her. It was 
for this reason that she addressed these words to the 
most holy Virgin, and she who had crushed his head 
would not allow her to cpronounce the word demon. 



Apparitions of Boulfcret. 61 



The Mother of sorrows then lowered her eves, and 
fixing them on Josephine, said to her : 

" I am the Queen of Martyrs ! l And what causes me 
this martyrdom, with this heart transpierced with swords 
and surrounded with flames, and these limpid tears ? 
They are the,crimes of all poor sinners, the hard-hearted- 
ness and indifference of many of these whom I see at 
my feet, and who, in place of honoring me with the 
greatest recollection, are to me only ungrateful and un- 
natural children. Instead of offering me their hearts 
and their prayers, they offer me a chalice of bitterness 
and transpierce my heart with a new sword. 

" Poor children, you prefer the vain joys of the world, 
which cause you great troubles, to the pure delights of 
your tender Mother, who wishes to crown you with 
flowers and shelter you under her virginal mantle ! 
O my dear children, what grave sins you commit, 
that you take for light faults, and that cause such deep 
wounds to my heart ! " 

The holy Virgin, addressing Josephine, said : 

" Arise, my child, come and contemplate that which 
thy lightest fault makes me feel." 

At these words, Josephine arose and approached the 
holy Virgin, who showed her a slight wound on her 
heart, and then she added : 

" Now, see the wounds that thy grievous sins cause 
my heart." 

At this moment her heart was half opened by a 
large wound, and she continued : 

11 And at the time thou didst not believe this s4n so 

1 In Rome on this day is celebrated the feast of Our Lady of 
Martyrs, and this day is also the anniversary of the birth of 
Josephine. 



62 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

great. Thou knowest, my child, thou knowest I have 
reproached thee for it. Ah, well ! these reproaches 
were not only made to thee, but to all those who have 
the unhappiness to commit them. For this sin is the 
one that leads most often to sacrilege." 

Josephine said : " O my good Mother, how unhappy 
I am to have been so ungrateful to you ! How have 
I had the hard-heartedness to cause you a wound so 
grave ! Oh, never will I forget this sad remem- 
brance ! " 

The Blessed Virgin said : " O my dear daughter, 
she who gives thee this sorrow will be able to remove 
it from thee." 

Josephine said : " O my tender Mother, you who are 
so good and so powerful, I supplicate you to operate 
something more striking " 

The Blessed Virgin interrupted her : " Be in peace, 
my child, we are not yet at the end of the century. 
The time will come when they will recognize the 
truth. God does not permit that all miraculous acts 
will resemble one another. Here He chooses a victim 
who must suffer for sinners, and one is not truly a 
victim unless persecuted : and if God had wished it, 
He could have made thee a victim without my appear- 
ing to thee. But, if He deigns to allow me to descend 
on the earth, it is to warn poor sinners and make them 
comprehend that they are in great danger. How can 
the rich open the door to the poor if they do not knock ? 
How can I accord graces if they do not ask them from 
me ? I have ordered that I be invoked under the name 
of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. Is this work being 
accomplished ? It is true that many persons have 
procured chaplets ; I am pleased with that. But, 



Apparitions of Bonlleret. 63 

among these persons, how many there are who recite it 
only with their lips and not from the bottom of their 
hearts ! For the rest, thou the first, my child, how 
canst thou wish that I accord graces to persons who 
will not take time to pray to me, and who pray to me 
only with distrust, and do not put their confidence in 
me ? At first, many persons came to see thee, to 
recommend themselves to thy feeble prayers, and the 
greater number of these persons do not pray themselves 
for the graces they ask. They wish to gather without 
sowing." 

The holy Virgin to those assembled : " Ah, w r ell ! my 
dear children, knock and it will be opened to you ; 
ask and you will receive ; for the treasures of my 
Son are open and inexhaustible. And here is what 
you must ask preferably : the conversion of sinners, 
the salvation of your soul, and the rest will be given 
you in addition.''' 

The Blessed Virgin to Josephine : " Lower your eyes 
towards the earth." 

Josephine did as she was directed. A moment after 
the Blessed Virgin said to her : ' ; My dear daughter ! " 
Josephine looked at her; she was transformed. She had 
a little black cross in her right hand, and on her head 
a crown of lilies. She was smiling, and she said to her : 

14 It is only thou who at this moment hast the happi- 
ness to see this crown, but later, in heaven, it will rest 
on many of the heads that are gathered at my feet ; 
consequently, let all good souls who are faithful and 
devoted to me redouble their fervor, and strive to pray 
for all those poor sinners who refuse to receive on their 
gray hair the crown of eternal glory. 

" Ah, well ! my dear children, pray, pray, for you 
have much need." 



64 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

Josephine then said to the holy Virgin : 

" My good Mother, are you, then, she who is appear- 
ing at La Salette, at Lourdes and at Pellevoisin ? " 

" Yes, my daughter, I am indeed she who is appear- 
ing at La Salette, at Lourdes and . . ." Josephine did 
not comprehend whether she said Pellevoisin 

The Blessed Virgin disappeared in saying to her : 
" The 31st of May I will appear to thee agajn." 

Article Nineteenth. — Apparition ofthejist of May, 1878. 

Fearing the sayings of the incredulous, or of persons 
who attributed the apparitions of Jarrier — the one to 
the demon, another to sickness, others again to de- 
ceit, but principally because of the instigations of the 
devil, who assailed these supernatural acts, which he 
will soon endeavor to destroy — Josephine did not tell, 
at first, that the Blessed Virgin would appear to her 
again ; she only told it later. Yet the rumor spread 
and on the 31st of May about three thousand persons 
were gathered in the little meadow before the house in- 
habited by the seeress. About three o'clock in the 
afternoon, Josephine, with several persons, among 
them the cure and a physician, knelt down in a little 
garden of round form, a short distance from the house, 
and about sixteen feet in diameter. They recited the 
chaplet : after the first two decades the Blessed Vir- 
gin showed herself visibly to Josephine. She wore a 
white robe, and on her head a crown of lilies entwined 
with green leaves. She held a crown of white roses in 
her right hand, and in her left a black cross ; she said 
to Josephine : 

" If I have deigned to appear again, it is because I 
desire that they erect a statue here under the title of 



2Ippartttons of 'Soultevet. 65 

Our Lady of the Seven Dolors ; and on this subject I 
have some reproaches to make thee. This apparition 
was not a secret for you to guard under silence. It 
seemed to thee that it was I who inspired thee to say 
nothing, and therefore thou proceededst with prudence. 
But it is quite the contrary ; it was the demon, jealous 
and furious at the work of God, and at the loss of souls 
to himself, who prevented thee telling it. He does not 
wish the people to assemble in this place. Be distrust- 
ful, for he endeavors to destroy the miraculous acts 
which I operate here. 

" From the moment when I said to thee to trample 
under foot all things here below, why pay attention to 
the contradictions of the world rather than to obey 
God ? Thou knowest it is only in Him and in me thou 
wilt find true happiness and true consolation. Come 
again to feel on this cross how those who listen to the 
demon pay, by their sufferings, for all the pleasures, the 
frivolous joys, and criminal diversions in which they 
participate." 

Here Josephine endeavored to rise and go to touch 
the cross ; but she felt herself restrained by an invis- 
ible being. She arose and fell ; she arose again, and 
fell once more on her knees. Then she said : 

" My good Mother, I do not know what restrains me ! 
It is impossible for me to reach you." 

The Blessed Virgin : — " Fear nothing, my child ; 
thou art under the eyes of thy heavenly Mother. Take 
courage, and do not allow thyself to succumb." 

Josephine : — " Can this be the devil who restrains 
me ? (These words were heard by all present.) If it 
is thee, Satan, begone ! " 

At this moment Josephine made the sign of the 
5 



66 Apparitions of BouIIeret. 

cross ; her strength returned ; she rose, and, going for- 
ward, touched the cross. She felt great pains as she 
touched it, and exclaimed : " O my good Mother, how 
I suffer ! " 

The Blessed Virgin : — " Thou hast merited this suf- 
fering by thy want of resignation, of patience, and cour- 
age. Thou hast not lost a rose, but thou hast tarnished 
thy crown. Retire." (She retired and placed herself 
on her knees.) 

The Blessed Virgin was silent a moment and then 
said : 

" Now, come and rest thy burning hands on this 
crown, so fresh, soft, and full of the sweetest perfume. 
Thou wilt feel the joy, happiness and satisfaction which 
falls to the lot of those who take pleasure in serving 
God faithfully." 

Josephine endeavored to rise, but found again the 
same difficulty. Twice she made the attempt, but fell 
each time. She said : 

" Can this be the demon who once more restrains 
me ? " (She made, anew, the sign of the cross.) 

The holy Virgin : — " All that is useless, my dear 
daughter ; dost thou not know that the road to heaven 
is strewn with rocks and thorns, and to attain the end 
one must use violence ? " 

When Josephine, with difficulty, attained the crown, 
she said : 

" O my good Mother, how kind you are to a child 
who is so ungrateful to you, who causes you so much 
distress. I thank you, for all my sufferings and pains 
have disappeared." 

The Blessed Virgin : — " Ah, well ! my dear daughter 
be always humble, obedient and patient. With these 



apparitions of Boadetei 67 

three virtues thou wilt arrive at perfection." With- 
draw. 

The Blessed Virgin stopped, then with a smiling 
countenance, turning her eyes on the assembly, she said : 

"My dear children, to-day is the close of my beau- 
tiful month. I am contented and satisfied with the 
honor which you have testified to me by your assiduity 
during this month of Mary, bv the fervor of your 
prayers and by your good communions. Ah, well I you 
must not only honor the Mother, you must also think 
of honoring the Son, in order to repair the outrages 
that are committed against Him : for to-morrow is the 
opening of the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ; 
and here are the means of honoring well my divine 
Son : that all those who have the book of the month of 
the Sacred Heart apply themselves to it and not fail to 
make the devotions every day. Those who have not 
this book can replace it by good pious reading, and 
other prayers which they can choose to suit their con- 
venience, and by an amende honorable that you will 
recite every day, and also by uniting yourself to His 
Sacred Heart, which has so loved you that He has 
shed His blood for your redemption. You will also 
make one or several communions, if your confessor 
judges you worthy." 

The holy Virgin looked at Josephine and said : 

14 For thee, my child, thou wilt have again only seven 
crises a day during this month, in order the better to 
honor my divine Son ; but with this difference, that 
thou shalt shed some blood on Friday. It is impos- 
sible for thee to feel only the same sufferings as during 
this month ; for thou must remember that the Son suf- 
fered more than the Mother, when He shed His blood.'' 



68 Apparitions of Boulleret. - 

Josephine : — " Bat, my good Mother, they will not 
believe me. They say it is I who do all this ; there are 
so many who have false visions ! How do you wish 
them to discern the true from the false, if you do not 
give them some marks more striking ? " 

The holy Virgin : — " It is true, my child, unhappily, 
there are some false visions ; but it is easy to know the 
true from the false." 

Josephine : — " But, my good Mother, if they believe 
at Lourdes and at La Salette, it is because you have 
operated miracles there, and if you operate none here, 
they will not believe." 

The holy Virgin : — " Indeed, my child, they will 
believe ; I repeat it to thee ; be in peace. God knows 
certainly if souls are lost or gained. I will tell thee, 
for thy consolation, that some great sinners have been 
and others will be converted. Many lukewarm souls, 
who were on the eve of falling into the abyss, have be- 
come more fervent." 

The holy Virgin, looking at the crowd, said : 

" Among all these people there are some who are 
incredulous ; but there are also many believers w r ho 
will do much good, who will aid thee to pray for poor 
sinners who refuse God to enter into the celestial 
country, where they would be covered with glory for all 
eternity. Ah, well ! my dear children, continue always 
to love me and to love God well, and on the day of 
your entrance into the kingdom of heaven we will 
place on your foreheads, purified by penance (in saying 
this she held the crown over the assembly), this beau- 
tiful crown, which I am not permitted to render visible 
to your eyes, lest you should lose the merit." 

The Blessed Virgin turned her eyes on Josephine : 



Apparitions of dontferet. 69 

" Above all, my dear child, always follow the line of 
conduct I have traced for thee, for I will appear to 
thee no more, except to console thee in thy pains, to 
encourage thee in thy sufferings, and at the moment of 
thy death." 

Josephine said : " O my good Mother, when shall I 
have the happiness of going to heaven with you ? " 

The Blessed Virgin. — " O my dear daughter, why 
dost thou ask me that ? Thou knowest well that this 
cannot be so soon, for thou art far from being perfect. 
As long as thou wilt not find thy cross as light as the 
dry leaves that fly in the air, heaven will not be open 
to thee." 

The Blessed Virgin looked at the crowd : 

" O my dear children, pray much, for you are on the 
eve of great trials, when all the people will be shaken ; 
and it is only by prayer that you will appease the just 
anger of God. When you will be in the midst of 
dangers, remember always that I am your mother ; 
implore me, and I will come to your succor." 

Josephine : — " O my good Mother, are you then she 
who has appeared at Pellevoisin ? " • 

The Blessed Virgin : — " My child, but why Pelle- 
voisin ? Might it not be persecuted ? " 

After a moment's silence she added : 

" When thou receivest even the very greatest severity 
from thy good confessor, always be grateful to him 
after God, for he only wishes the salvation of thy soul." 

Having said this, the Blessed Virgin disappeared. 
Josephine, after having obtained the permission of 
the cure, rendered an account of the apparition to the 
crowd. Thus the apostles, who before were poor 
fishermen of the Lake of Genesareth, rendered an 



70 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

account to the crowd of that which they had seen and 
heard while they travelled through Judea with our divine 
Redeemer, and were witnesses of the miracles without 
number which He operated. 

The statue requested by the Blessed Virgin has not 
been placed at Jarrier. Assuredly, it will be erected 
there, with great pomp, after the triumph of France. 
A statue about three feet high, representing Our Lady 
of the Seven Dolors as she appeared to Josephine, was 
ordered at Paris by some pious persons, friends of the 
seeress. It was placed by them, one evening, in the 
little garden, but removed the following morning. 
These persons had not asked the permission of the 
proper authorities, and the following morning, having 
some fear, they took the statue down ; it is now at 
Boulleret, where it can be seen in her room, or, as it is 
sometimes called, the chamber of the apparitions. 

Article Twentieth. — Apparitions of the Denton who e?ideav- 
ors to Destroy the Work of Boulleret. 

It was at this epoch that the devil, — God permitting 
him, — knowing* the great importance of the work of 
Boulleret, which must cause his defeat and precipitation 
into hell by the archangel St. Michael, as well as the 
triumph of the Church, of Rome and France, commenced 
to persecute Josephine. Thus, as we remarked before, 
he has persecuted the greater number of the saints 
whom we invoke. He appeared to Josephine under 
different forms : those that he liked to take were as 
he showed himself to St. Antony, under the figure of 
a pig, and to St. Teresa, under that of an enormous 
toad. 

On the 17th of July, 1878, he appeared to Josephine 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 71 

for the first time. He came under the form of a gen- 
tleman, of high stature, dressed in black. He used 
every effort to induce her to renounce her apparitions ; 
he even offered her money. Some days after, on his 
second appearance, he menaced her. The third time 
he offered her jewels and a watch. Afterwards he 
appeared to her as ?n angel of light, but everything 
about him breathed pride and insubordination. 

Xot being able either to seduce or to deceive her, 
he then essayed to kill her. One day he set fire to the 
curtains of her bed : they were obliged to lift her out of 
the bed and extinguish the fire. Another day, he 
carried her into the street ; her husband ran after her, 
and it was not without much trouble that he carried 
her back to the house. At last he essayed to stab her, 
and gave her at seven different periods a stroke in the 
breast with a dagger, one of them being in the region 
of the heart. It was necessary to stop the blood from 
flowing out of the wound as soon as possible. This is 
the wound in the side that opens sometimes on Good 
Friday, and from which a great quantity of blood flows. 
One of these strokes of the poignard was given by the 
devil at church, while she was assisting at Mass and 
was standing, at the time of the first gospel. Without 
any doubt, the devil would have killed her at the first 
stroke if God had permitted him. Sometimes he 
appeared to her under the figure of a bear and again 
like a large black cat ; in this last form, he was seen 
also by the little Marie, then about fifteen months or two 
years old. 

The devil not only tormented Josephine, but her 
family and friends, showing himself to them visibly. 
These apparitions of the devil ceased in the year 188 1 ; 



72 ' Apparitions of Boulleret. 

nevertheless, on the 31st of May, 1887, he showed him- 
self again to Josephine, at the foot of her bed, holding 
a pitchfork in his hand and threatening to kill her ; he 
was driven away by the Blessed Virgin, who appeared 
at this moment, as we will see later on. 

Article Iwenty-first. — The Inquiry on the Acts of Bou lie- 
ret, August 1878. 

Among the persons knowing of the apparitions at 
Boulleret many believed them, but others refused to 
believe, attributing them to an unknown malady or to 
the devil. Every one called for an inquiry and a 
canonical judgment Mgr. de la Tour - d'Auvergne 
ordered an investigation. When it was completed, and 
His Grace had read the report, he said : " This inquiry 
does not satisfy me at all. I am less clear on the 
subject than before ; it is necessary that I order an- 
other/' The priest and persons — very pious and 
worthy of faith — who assisted at the inquiry, and 
whom we interrogated, declared that the investigation 
had been badly made ; that the commissioners appointed 
did not wish to find the divine-supernatural in the 
extraordinary events of Boulleret. God permitted 
this ; He permitted the devil to blind these commis- 
sioners of inquest ; for, the investigation not having 
given any result, no canonical judgment was taken, so 
the unbelieving continued to say it was illness that 
caused the acts that passed at Jarrier and afterwards 
at Boulleret, others said that the devil appeared to 
Josephine ; and Boulleret still continues to be a Cal- 
vary. 

Mgr. de la Tour- d'Auvergne died the 17th of 
September, 1879. Time failed him to order another inves- 



Apparitions of SonMetet. 73 

tigation. The year of his death he went to Boulleret to 
administer the sacrament of Confirmation. He desired 
to see Josephine and question her himself, but he was 
suffering ; he sent his vicar-general, M. Santereau, to 
see and interrogate her. The vicar-general had 
Josephine brought to the Rectory and questioned her. 
He wept all the time that Josephine gave him the 
history of her apparitions. At the end, Josephine 
having said to him : " You see, Monsieur Vicar- 
General, there are some who tell me that it is the devil 
who appears to me." ' ; Oh, Madam,' 1 he replied im- 
mediately, " have this fear no longer ; it is indeed the 
Blessed Virgin who appears to you." These words of 
the vicar-general of Bourges, a most worthy priest, 
who has left in the diocese (he died in 1883) an honored 
and respected name, are, most assuredly, equivalent to 
a canonical judgment. And until a second investiga- 
tion takes place and a canonical judgment be given, 
it is permitted us to believe that it is indeed the 
Blessed Virgin who appears to Josephine, and we are 
to do what she orders : to honor the seven wounds of 
her heart. 

Article Twenty-second. — Apparition of the 15th of August, 

7878. 

On the 15th of August, 1878, at noon, as the bell 
was striking the Angelus, Josephine was praying in 
the little garden at Jarrier, when the Blessed Virgin 
appeared to her. She was suspended in the air ; she 
had a diadem of gold on her head, a crown of white 
flowers in her right hand, and a crown of white roses 
in her left ; she smiled, and said to Josephine : 

" My dear daughter, if I have deigned to appear to 



74 Apparitions of Boulleret 

thee to-day, it is only to console thee, not to remove 
thy sufferings, for the persecution is yet far from 
ceasing. For the rest, it is useless that I always 
repeat to thee the same thing. Thou hast only to 
recall all that I have announced and reflect well on it. 
That will serve thee as a guide and consolation. 
My child, sadness must always exist in thee ; thou art 
accused ; but be calm in the midst of thy pains, thy 
uneasiness and thy temptations. By following my 
counsels and those of thy good confessor, what hast 
thou to fear ? Art thou not in a good way ? I repeat 
it, my child, defy the demon, for he roams around thee, 
trying to ensnare thee, in order to seize and destroy 
the work of God. But be courageous, fear nothing. 
Remember that thou art always the child of Mary, 
that I am always near thee. Call me to thy assistance 
and I will extricate thee from peril. Now, as to the 
recital of thy apparitions, I will not force thee to make 
them continually ; I leave thee free. Thou hast also 
the duties of thy state to fulfil, and I order thee to 
discharge them well." 

" Now, be in peace about the marriage state. Thou 
hast received this sacrament ; it is God who has per- 
mitted it. Thou hast only to follow the counsels of 
thy confessor. In all thy pains and fears generally, 
seek always the will of God, and nothing will happen 
to thee without His permission. 

" Tell thy confessor to take courage and have confi- 
dence, even when he believes himself deceived ; it is 
enough for him to know that all these persecutions are 
an advancement for him. In order to go to heaven, he 
must be purified in this life or in the other. For the 
rest, he has a right to participate in all that I have re- 



Apparitions of BouIIeret. 75 

vealed to thee. It is true that the acts which take place 
here are enveloped with misrepresentation and injus- 
tice : but notwithstanding that, pray always for thy per- 
secutors ; these things must be ; be hopeful. It will 
end well, the truth will be discovered. 

" Recommend them to pray for France, and espe- 
cially for the Church, for they are in danger. Have 
confidence in the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and of His 
holy Mother : we will not abandon thee. 

" Every time that thou shalt have the desire and per- 
mission to go to holy communion, thou canst make it 
without fear, providing thy intention be not to preserve 
thee from vomiting. In some extraordinary circum- 
stances, for instance, a useful journey or other similar 
things, thou canst make it to sustain thee ; but never 
without the authority of thy confessor. Above all, 
humility and obedience." 

Article Twenty-third.— Apparition of the 22d of Septeniber, 

1878. 

On the 22d of September, 1878, Josephine, with 
some friends, was praying in the little garden, about 
two o'clock in the afternoon, when the Blessed Virgin 
appeared to her. She was clothed in white and had on 
her breast her heart pierced with seven swords. She 
said to Josephine : 

" My dear daughter, I come simply to say once 
more, thou art only to follow my counsels and those of 
thy confessor. Above all, do not follow those of others, 
or thou wilt fall into the abyss. Yes, my dear 
•daughter, in following the line of conduct I have traced 
for thee, thou wilt walk in the right and sure way and 
needst not fear to fall into the snares of the demon. 



j6 Apparitions of Boulleret 

Contemplate well, her who calls thee her daughter, and 
thou wilt see if she will not be thy veritable mother." 

Josephine said : "O my good Mother, I will, indeed, 
believe it ; but you see all that passes around me, all the 
evil that is committed on this subject." 

The Blessed Virgin : — " Be tranquil and believe. If it 
be thus, it is God who permits it. I repeat it again, 
my child, defy the demon, do not succumb to his 
temptations. Take courage, for thou must expect to 
be tried by great persecutions on his part. In the 
midst of thy afflictions, recall always the apparitions, 
meditate well on them and thou wilt find there strength, 
courage, consolation, patience and resignation. Above 
all, my child, place all thy confidence in thy confessor, 
and be very submissive and obedient to him, and con- 
duct thyself well, for it will be a long time before I 
come to visit thee visibly. But do not forget that I am 
always near thee, especially in the hour of danger." 

Article Twenty -fourth. — Josephine leaves Jarrier to go and 
live at Boulleret. — Birth of Marie. — Vision of the 1st 
of May, 1879. — " On this Earth there is no more Hap- 
pines s for thee." 

Josephine left Jarrier in the beginning of November 
1878, to go and live at Boulleret with her husband and 
her daughter Ernestine, then seven years old. On the 
1 8th of this month she gave birth to her second child, 
a daughter, whom she named Marie. She nursed it 
herself, notwithstanding her great vomitings of blood 
and that she took scarcely any nourishment, and, more- 
over, passed long hours in bed without consciousness ; 
in short, they were obliged to hold the infant to her 
breast. The physician who saw Josephine at this time 



Upparitions of Boulferet. 77 

declared that she had milk enough to nourish two chil- 
dren. A friend of Josephine, who had a daughter the 
same age as Marie, went often to Boulleret to make it 
nurse the milk of Josephine. 

The Blessed Virgin had informed Josephine on the 
2 2d of September, 1878, that she would remain some 
time without appearing to her ; in truth, she did not 
appear to her until nineteen months later, on the 1st of 
May, 1880. But the 1st of May, 1879, Josephine had 
the following vision. She was in her room at Boul- 
leret ; she saw a cross, above which was a dove. The 
dove held in his beak a crown, and in this crown were 
written the following words : 

" Courage and confidence, my daughter ; in order to 
die, it is necessary to suffer. I am thy most tender 
Mother; I offer thee tears and sorrows, and if thou art 
faithful to me behold thy recompense. 

" In the midst of trial and persecution do not for- 
get that the arms of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and oi 
His holy Mother are stronger than the power of all 
the demons united together. Arise, go and receive the 
Bread of Life at the foot of the tabernacle. Let religion 
be thy greatest heritage, for humiliations, pains, un- 
happiness, afflictions, trials and persecutions will aug- 
ment day by day before thee and all that which con- 
cerns thee. But even when they maltreat and strike 
thee, and threaten to imprison thee ; when all the 
universe will be against thee, and even those persons 
who are most devoted will abandon thee, do not fail in 
confidence or fidelity, for God will not forsake thee. 
On this earth there is no more happiness for thee. 
Let ?wt the arm of Satan frighten thee, and do not fear 
to go and pray in the place where Our Lady of the 



78 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

Seven Dolors deigned to visit thee twenty-one times. 
Poor persecuted Church ! poor France afflicted by his 
malice ! " 

Josephine was warned of the means that Satan was 
going to employ, uselessly, to destroy the work of 
Boulleret. It was only in the month of July following 
that she comprehended these words, the arm of Satan, 
when he attempted to stab her. 

Article Twenty -fifth. — Apparition of the 1st of May, 1880. 

Josephine was praying in her chamber, before the 
statue of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors, when the 
Blessed Virgin showed herself to her. She was dressed 
in white, with a black cincture around her waist, knotted 
on the left side. Beside her, at the left, a large cross 
was raised, on which floated a black veil. She wept 
and said to Josephine : 

" My dear daughter, I repeat it to thee again, resig- 
nation, confidence and courage in the midst of the trials 
and persecutions thou feelest and that thou must still 
feel on the part of the demon, of the world and of some 
of thy relations. And be without uneasiness on the 
subject of thy child. Becoming a mother the second 
time, rest assured thou art considered in the eyes of 
God and His holy Mother, the same as thou wert the 
first time, and the innocent which thou dost nourish at 
thy breast belongs to us. 

" God will preserve thee from vomiting on the 
Fridays and Sundays of this month ; and during the 
month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, on one Friday only 
and on all the Sundays, in case thy confessor judges 
proper to give thee holy communion, which will give 
thee strength to triumph over the work of the demon 



Apparitions of 23culleret. 79 



and for the intention of bringing back sinners to repent- 
ance. Recommend strongly to every one to pray — to 
pray much. — and make good communions." 
The Blessed Virgin raised her eyes to heaven : 
" Courage, poor France ! poor Church ! poor clergy ! 
Courage, all the associates of Jesus Christ ! you will 
not be tried beyond your strength. After the perse- 
cution, the Church will triumph and flourish. Above 
all, great humility, obedience and submission towards 
thy poor confessor. Conduct thyself well." 

Article Twenty-sixth, — Apparition of the 1st of May, 
188 1. — Chastisements Announced. 

The Blessed Virgin appeared to Josephine on the 1st 
of May, 1 88 1. Her heart, surrounded with flames and 
pierced with seven swords, was on her breast. Her robe 
was white, with a black cincture around her waist. 
She had on her left arm several crowns of red roses, 
twined with green leaves. At her left a large cross 
was raised, on the cross-piece next the Blessed Virgin 
hung a black drapery ; on the other side was a wind- 
ing-sheet stained with blood. At the foot of the cross 
w r ere different arms and implements of war. She 
wept, and said : " My child, obedience before all." 
She then turned her eyes on those assembled, and 
said : 

" Pious and faithful souls, I admire your courage, 
your confidence and perseverance in this work of Our 
Lady of the Seven Dolors, who has deigned to appear 
at Jarrier. Pray much ; make good and fervent com- 
munions. Impiety struggles furiously ; a large part 
of the people is seated in the shadow of death. The 
Church is in peril : the waves cease not to beat against 



Apparitions of BouKeret. 



her ; the demon makes all his greatest efforts against 
France, already wounded by his malice. " 

The holy Virgin raised her eyes and said : 

" Thou, O France ! the well-beloved of my heart, 
eldest daughter of the Church, who wast the first and 
the head in rendering honor, glory and worship in the 
temple of the Lord, and in venerating and honoring 
my sanctuaries, thou dost abandon and desert us ; and 
to-day thou art the first to put thy foot on Christ, Son 
of the living God, the God of the Eucharist, the Bread 
of the strong. Thou art also the scandal and the ruin 
of powerful foreigners. This century is deaf to the 
menaces of heaven and to the warnings that God sends 
it. You are drawing near to the sad and cruel events, 
to the plagues that God is going to pour forth on His 
rebellious people. The blood will run from the sharp 
edge of the murderous swords, and under the yoke and 
fire of the different armies. This chastisement will be 
short, but terrible and frightful. For the many good, 
true and faithful servants of God, who will be ranged 
under the standard of the cross after their combats, 
their victory and triumph will be heaven with the crown 
of martyrs. Place all your confidence in the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus and in His holy Mother ; you will not be 
tried beyond your strength.'' 

At this moment the apparition was transformed : the 
cross, the transpierced heart, the warlike implements, 
the red crowns and the black cincture disappeared. 
The Blessed Virgin appeared with a crown of white 
lilies on her head, and lilies grouped at her feet. She 
smiled a little, and said : 

" Believe that the tree which commences to be 
shaken by the wind, the thunder and the tempest, will 



Apparitions of Bonllcrct. 81 

neither be broken nor rooted up. Only the bad, worm- 
eaten flowers will fall, and they will be trodden under 
foot and thus be unable to spread their venom. Those 
that remain on the tree will produce good fruit, exhal- 
ing a perfume and sweetness that will regenerate the 
germ of triumph in the heart of the Church. And my 
foot, conqueror on bruised and profaned France, will 
crush the infernal serpent, and restore to this country 
the honor, the glory and the virtues of which it has 
been despoiled." 

The Blessed Virgin addressed herself to Josephine : 
" My dear daughter, calm thy fears and uneasiness : 
banish thy melancholy. During the months of the 
Sacred Heart of Jesus and of his holy Mother, the 
demon will not be able to persecute thee so cruelly. Prove 
that thou art not abandoned by God the Father, God 
the Son, God the Holy Ghost, the Blessed Virgin and 
St. Joseph, thy protector; by his intercession he has 
obtained for thee an alleviation of thy bodily sufferings. 
Thou wilt be preserved from vomiting every Wednes- 
day during these two months. Why be discouraged 
and allow thyself to fall into despair ? Have I not pre- 
vented some persecutions of the demon, and that his 
arm could not frighten thee ? Thou art not yet at thy 
last wound. Of what consequence, should he reduce 
thee to the greatest misery, and make thy body fall 
into rottenness ? This can never be, only by the per- 
mission of God. If He has permitted him to put him- 
self into this state of deceit, fury and extravagance, it 
is to teach thee that thou must never say : I have gone 
to the last point, I will not call my confessor. Never 
complain or murmur ; always be submissive and 
obedient to him. Above all, do not believe the lies of 
6 



Apparitions of s -8ouUerct 



the angel of darkness, and of the furious serpent. If, 
unhappily, thou shalt fall into a grave fault, that will 
cause a new and grievous wound to my heart ; but I will 
not abandon thee to the demon for that. 1 Was it not 
for this that Jesus Christ instituted the salutary waters 
of the sacrament of penance, that wash and purify 
souls which have the unhappiness of falling into mor- 
tal sin ? But, nevertheless, do not allow thyself to be 
deluded by his temptations; make every effort to 
combat him, and I will aid thee. The more thou art 
persecuted by the demon, the more God will watch 
over and protect thee. Defy him always ; he will ap- 
pear to thee under different forms and will surprise thee 
when thou dost least expect it. 

" I repeat it again, have confidence always in thy 
confessor. Pray much and have many prayers said for 
him. Tell him to apprise his brother priests, if it be 
possible for him, for all of them to support the right 
and the cause of religion, to move with great prudence 
in all circumstances, to guard the greatest silence, to 
occupy themselves and speak of politics as little as 
possible, especially in the pulpits on Sunday. The 
world is very badly disposed and very much aroused 
against the clergy. They will draw down on them- 
selves only menaces. 

" As for thy director, in these fatal times let him 
take precautions not to risk delay on his journeys and 
to absent himself only as little as possible, so as not to 
expose himself to the threats and violence of worthless 
people, even though the arm of God be there to succor 

1 These words were an answer to a menace that the devil had 
made to Josephine : that he would make her fall into mortal sin, 
and that she would then be in his power. 



2lppartttorts of £>oulIcret. 83 

him. He will receive likewise his share of the per- 
secution of the devil : let him accept all with patience, 
in a spirit of penance and for the expiation of his sins. 
For him this will not be less favorable for heaven, 
and it will preserve him from the great pains of purga- 
tory. 

Article Twenty-seventh. — Apparition of the 7 th of August, 
188 1. — The Blessed Virgin recommends to Remain in 
one s Family and pray at the Time of the Chastisements. 

On Sunday, the 7th of August, several persons were 
with Josephine in her room, about four o'clock in the 
afternoon, when she entered into ecstasy. 

The devil appeared under the form of a black angel. 
Underneath this angel was a white cloud, in the middle 
of which appeared a white angel, having in his right 
hand a white banner on which Josephine read this in- 
scription in letters of gold : Thou wilt triumph over the 
work of the demon ; on his breast, a blue escutcheon 
with this inscription also in letters of gold ; St. Michael 
Archangel ; on his head was a diadem of gold. Beside 
the archangel stood the holy Virgin, vested in white, 
having in her right hand a diadem composed of lilies 
and white flowers ; in her left hand, a crown of white 
roses ; on her head, a crown of white lilies. She was 
smiling. She said : 

" My dear daughter, courage and confidence ! We 
come, on the part of God the Father, of God the Son 
and of God the Holy Ghost, to deliver thee and all 
those around thee from the great and cruel persecu- 
tions of the rebellious angel, for God will not permit it 
any longer. But, nevertheless, thou canst expect to be 
tried yet with great temptations, torments and persecu- 



84 2tppartttorts of Boulleret. 

tions on his part, from time to time, for the rest of 
thy days, but thou wilt be able to support and resist 
them." 

The demon vanished, casting himself into the abyss, 
and the archangel St. Michael arose to heaven. The 
holy Virgin continued : 

" My child, after all thy sufferings, wouldst thou 
lose thy recompense ? How canst thou wish that a 
poor creature should not undergo a thousand tribu- 
lations, since God, the Creator of all things, has 
suffered more than all the martyrs united together, 
treated like the lowest of profligates and compared to 
them ? I repeat it, God has predestined thee to suffer- 
ing ; He has made thee a victim in this parish for the 
conversion of sinners. One is not truly a victim but 
by the crucible of suffering and persecution. Trample 
under foot all the contempt and calumnies of thy per- 
secutors. We must all say and do right, and the truth 
will discover itself. Let the spirits of darkness agitate 
themselves and rise against thee. Fear not their false 
judgments, and do not give way to sadness. That will 
decide nothing for thy eternity. It is God who will 
judge and recompense thee, if thou wilt persevere in 
walking over the tortuous and thorny path that He has 
traced for thee. Men can do nothing. 

" It is true thou art in great physical and mental 
suffering, that thou hast great need of consolation in 
thy weariness and heavy sorrows, thy cruel agony and 
melancholy. It is only God who can give thee a remedy 
which will produce any effect on this kind of malady. 

" As proof that thou art not abandoned by Prov- 
idence, thou wilt be preserved from vomiting commenc- 
ing from to-day until the termination of the octave of 



Apparitions of ^Soulleret. 85 



my Assumption, on condition that thou wilt employ this 
time to pray much and assist at the holy sacrifice of 
the Mass as often as thou canst, in order to repair the 
faults thou hast committed in moments of despair, of 
failing in confidence and in abandoning thyself to the 
holy will of God." 

The Blessed Virgin was silent a moment, then re- 
sumed : 

"It is needless that I always repeat to thee the same 
thing. Consequently, I oblige thee to reflect and medi- 
tate on all that I have predicted, and thou wilt see and 
comprehend that what is passing is simply the realiza- 
tion of these revelations. Resign thyself, submit and 
conform thyself to the will of God, as His holy Mother 
did during her sojourn on earth, and as she does in 
heaven near God the Father and God the Son." 

At this moment the crowns which the holy Virgin 
held in her hands and on her head vanished. On her 
bosom appeared a heart transpierced with seven swords 
and surrounded with flames ; around her body was a 
black cincture ; on her left arm, some crowns of roses, 
entwined with green leaves ; on her left stood a large 
wooden cross, at the foot of which were different arms 
and implements of war ; on one crossbar, a winding- 
sheet stained with blood, and on the other, a black 
veil. She wept and said : 

; ' What affliction and desolation for a tender Mother 
and a Son who has shed His blood for the salvation of 
the entire world ! God has sent warnings to His 
children. In place of submitting and prostrating them- 
selves to implore grace and mercy, they become excited 
and revolt with a barbarity and an atrocity without 
bounds." 



86 Apparitions of Boutteret. 

The holy Virgin raised her eyes to heaven : 

" Poor France ! poor Church ! poor clergy ! poor re- 
ligious and laity ! The times, the deplorable days ad- 
vance at great speed on your heads." She raised her 
eyes and arms to heaven : " Unhappy those who will 
not profit by these warnings ! " 

She lowered her eyes and arms and fixed them on 
the assembly : 

" My dear children, it is time for you to prepare to do 
penance, as the fervent prayers of pious souls will no 
longer suffice to aid me in restraining the enraged arm 
of my divine Son. I am forced to let Him execute 
His fatal design on a great part of the universe, for 
He is irritated to the last degree. Never has God been 
so outraged and profaned, especially in the holy sacra- 
ment of the Eucharist. The time of the abomination 
of desolation and darkness is approaching. When you 
will have a millstone about your neck, in the dangerous 
time of the massacre, you will not be able to escape 
elsewhere, in order to be spared. That w r ill be useless. 
Neither must you despair in such a manner as to lose 
confidence in the grace of God. Abandon yourself en- 
tirely into His powerful hands. Remain in your family, 
and pray peacefully in common with them on your own 
hearthstone. God will protect and preserve you ac- 
cording to His will." 

It is during these dark times of civil war that you must 
have confidence, and honor in your family the seven 
wounds of the Heart of Mary : for the churches will be 
closed, the priests hunted or massacred. These words 
must not make us forget the promise of the Blessed 
Virgin to protect those who honor the seven wounds 
of her Heart and to preserve them from all danger. 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 8/ 

Article Twenty-eighth. — Birth of Valerie. — Apparition 
of the ijth of May, 1883. — Civil War, European 
War. — Triumph of the Church and of France {Tab- 
leaux). 

From the 7th of August, 1881, until the 13th of May, 
1883, Josephine had no apparition. Her condition as 
a victim was always the same ; she vomited blood no 
less than seven times a day, except Saturdays and 
certain feast-days. The 16th of July, 1882, she gave 
birth to her third child, a daughter, who was called 
Valerie, after her godmother. She nourished her, like 
the two preceding children, with her own milk. 

The 27th of April, 1883, she became so ill that they 
feared she was going to die ; they called the priest, who 
administered the sacrament of Extreme Unction. This 
hopeless state was prolonged until the 13th of May. 

The 13th of May that year fell on the feast of Pente- 
cost. About half-past four o'clock in the afternoon 
several persons were in the room with Josephine, when, 
suddenly, she raised herself on the pillow, and sang in 
her ordinary tone, — net voice had been inaudible for 
sixteen months, — the canticle of St. Teresa. She con- 
tinued in ecstasy about ten minutes ; then, returning 
to herself, she said : " I am cured ; I wish to rise." 
The following day she went to church, assisted at Mass 
and received holy communion. 

Here is the recital of the apparition. The most 
holy Virgin appeared to her with her heart, transpierced 
with seven swords, on her bosom ; she sobbed, and said : 
" My child, in order to die, it is necessary to suffer. 
Thou art pot yet at thy last hour nor at the end of thy 
suffering; thou hast yet much to endure, physically and 
mentally ; this is thy portion." 



88 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

Here the apparition vanished for an instant, and it 
was then that Josephine, still in ecstasy, began to sing. 
She ceased when the Blessed Virgin reappeared and 
continued to speak to her : 

" My child, recommend strongly to thy relations, to 
this devout and faithful company and to all those who 
interest themselves in the work of Our Lady of the 
Seven Dolors, to preserve calmness, patience and great 
prudence in all the trials and persecutions which in- 
crease and follow one another more and more in the 
acts which God operates, openly, every day on the 
same victim, I should say on the two victims whom He 
has chosen in His august and impenetrable designs. " 

The holy Virgin turned toward those assembled : 
" And believe, if the truth is not yet recognized, it is 
God who permits it, for nothing can take place without 
His permission and His holy will, and the hour is not 
yet come. For the rest, read the words of the appari- 
tions, and you will see all the truth." 

At this moment the holy Virgin, her heart always 
transpierced with seven swords, ascended a calvary on 
which stood a wooden cross. Behind the calvary ap- 
peared a field of battle covered with .wounded, dead 
and dying, among whom Josephine distinguished both 
soldiers and civilians. Farther off, she discovered 
broken swords, fallen houses and a devastated church. 
Among the ruins of the latter were three altars abreast. 
At the main altar a priest, seized with fear, celebrated 
the holy Mass. On the altar at the left, some holy 
ciboriums were upset, the decorations rent and torn. 
Then the Blessed Virgin, standing at the foot of the 
calvary, said : 

" Pray, Christian people, pray, souls devoted to the 






Apparitions of Boullerct. 89 

Sacred Heart of Jesus and of His holy Mother, for 
soon you are going to see unrolled beneath your eyes 
the terrible and dolorous scene of this frightful drama. 
Oh ! what a horrible spectacle ! Never has any nation, 
never has the earth, seen anything so frightful or so 
horrible. Take your cross and follow to Calvary Mary, 
the Mother of sorrows, the inconsolable Mother, and 
you will see there what rigors the vengeful and irritated 
arm of God must exercise on His hardened people, on 
the licentious and sacrilegious rebels who contemn and 
tramp under foot all the sacraments of the holy Church 
and the traditions of Catholic piety of the East and of 
the West, and in fine, of all parts of the world. The 
wretches ! they do not fear to utter the most horrible 
and the most miserable blasphemies. O criminal peo- 
ple ! O men, vainglorious and degraded, who persecute 
the Church, your mother afflicted and in mourning, 
who plunge her in such great sorrows and desolations : 
you believe yourselves the masters of heaven and earth, 
and in fine, of the Supreme Being : and yet you are 
His creatures ! Very soon you will tremble with fright 
at the strokes of His thunder, that hover already and 
perhaps will crash to-morrow over your heads. 

" O Christian fathers and mothers, it is now that 
you will become desolate and your souls filled with 
weakness ! Oh, what immense and profound affliction 
at the moment of the overflowing of your troubles, 
which will resemble the motion of waters heaved up by 
a tempest ! O my children ! to whom then can I com- 
pare you, and who will be able to find anything to equal 
or resemble your torments ! " 

The holy Virgin slopped an instant and sighed, then 
she continued : 



90 itpparittorts of Soulleret. 

" When the sanguinary arms break the sweet fetters 
of many young spouses, you will weep ; unfortunate 
fathers and mothers, your cherished sons must shed 
their blood and die for their country and the Church. 
Weep, but do not murmur in these lamentable times. 
My dear children, souls devoted and faithful to the 
Church of Jesus Christ, watch and pray : especially 
watch that your lamps be well furnished with the 
purest oil, so that your light be not extinguished in the 
midst of the angry waves, of the dark and troubled 
waters of the tempest. In the midst of the torment, 
men of fierce aspect will be heard with frightful cries 
and shrieks, similar to those of hell ; their hearts will 
be inflamed with the most ferocious passions." 

The holy Virgin stopped a moment, then resumed : 

" This lugubrious spectacle will be presented to the 
gaze even of the most faithful and devout servants of 
Mary. A bloodthirsty mob will plunge the firmest 
souls in a mortal terror. Oh, yes, dear children, it is 
then you will have need of strength and courage, for 
your agony and sorrows w r ill be above all remedy and 
all consolation. But do not forget the consolation of 
the Afflicted and the Mother of mercy. She will 
sustain you in your greatest combats." 

At this moment the Blessed Virgin became invisible 
for a moment. But the field of battle and the church 
still remained ; in the church could be seen some of 
the laity, some priests and religious of different orders, 
praying fervently. At the main altar a priest was 
celebrating Mass, with two others assisting him. Above 
this altar was placed a picture of Our Lady of the 
Seven Dolors, her heart transpierced with seven swords. 
She held on her knees the dead body of Our Lord 



iipparttions of SouUerei 91 



Jesus Christ. At her right lay a crown of thorns that 
had fallen from the head of the Saviour, at her left, 
a large wooden cross with all the insignia of the Passion. 
This picture of the Passion was visible only an 
instant, and very soon in the same place was seen the 
human form of Our Saviour, but without speaking to 
Josephine ; she only remarked His countenance, which 
glowed with a beaut}' all divine, sweet and majestic. 
He had an aureole around His head ; His hair was 
curly ; His beard, a little long and curled, was parted 
in the middle of His chin. He was vested in a long 
white robe like the alb of a priest, with a cincture of 
thick cord, very white ; His right hand was extended 
over the faithful. In His left hand was a cross on 
which were entwined some crowns of red roses. On 
the crossbar, in the centre of the cross, was a large 
crown of thorns. 

On the left side of Our Saviour was a heart sur- 
mounted by a very brilliant little cross ; in the middle 
of this heart was a large wound from which flowed 
some streams of blood and rays of light, The blood 
and the rays fell into a large ciborium which was on the 
altar, before the priest who was celebrating Mass. 
This blood which fell into the holy ciborium divided 
into small portions, each of which formed a host. 
Then the priest who celebrated the holy Mass, taking 
the ciborium, distributed one of these hosts to all the 
faithful who presented themselves at the holy table. 
After this communion, the living picture of the Sacred 
Heart disappeared, and the holy Virgin again presented 
herself before Josephine. This time she was distin- 
guished by her dazzling beauty ; a crown of lilies was on 
her august head. At the same moment she displayed 



92 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

to the gaze of Josephine a delightful garden filled with 
lilies, and also trees laden with flowers and fruits, in 
the midst of which she distinguished a crowd of the 
faithful ranged in long files, carrying palms, banners 
and standards, and going processionally to the church, 
which was resplendent. 

The Blessed Virgin, addressing Josephine at the 
entrance of the garden, said to her : 

" See what joy and honor for those who remain faith- 
ful and who will combat for the glory of God and the 
triumph of His Church." 

The holy Virgin then taking from a group of lilies a 
crown of white roses, said to Josephine : 

" Now touch this crown ; it will calm thee and alle- 
viate thy suffering, which it is not possible to remove, 
since God has predestined thee to sorrow. He permits 
only that thou be preserved from thy vomiting until the 
month of September, so that thou mayest recover a little 
of thy strength and normal condition ; this will enable 
thee the better to fulfil thy exercises of piety. But in 
the meantime, be prudent about thy feeble health. 
Never complain or murmur against thy superiors ; sub- 
mit entirely to all the trials of the ecclesiastical author- 
ities, and even, if necessary, to the examinations they 
may wish to make of thee. 

" My dear daughter, I recommend to thee once more 
obedience and humility in all things ; not to complain, 
not to murmur, neither in the heart nor by the mouth. 
Never make any recriminations. The demon, in His 
rage and fury, exercises more than ever his work in a 
perverse world. God permits it ; you must submit your- 
self to Him, and bless and thank Him. But unhappily 
the time is not far distant when the incredulous will be 



Apparitions of Boulferet. 93 

rudely stricken by the vengeful and irritated anger of 
God, which they bring on themselves by their malignity 
and falseness. They will know Him in the end, but it 
will be too late. 

" Believe and hope, you, my dear children, who will 
suffer violence and persecution for my glory ; there wilJ 
come a better time when you will be justified. " 

The better time announced must give us confidence 
from to-day, but especially later, at the time of the civil 
and of the European war. During this apparition the 
Blessed Virgin released Josephine from vomiting until 
the end of September ; it will be the same every year, 
for the Blessed Virgin will appear to her henceforth on 
the 13th of May, at half-past one or two o'clock in the 
afternoon. 

Article Twenty-ninth. — Josephine is Forbidden by her 
Superiors to Render an Account of or to Speak of her Ap- 
paritions. — Apparition of the 8th of September, 1883. 
— Abridged Maimer of Reciting the Chaplet indicated 
by the Most Holy Virgin. 

Until the present time, as we have stated, after each 
apparition, Josephine repaired to the house of the priest 
with her mother, and dictated to him all that she had 
seen and heard : this continued until the apparition of 
the 13th of May, 1883. Henceforth, after this apparition, 
her superiors prohibited her from rendering an account 
or speaking to any person of her apparitions. She has 
obeyed, for the Blessed Virgin, as we have seen, recom- 
mended to her humility and obedience — obedience to 
her ecclesiastical superiors. Josephine is a true pro- 
phetess, not of the devil, but of the Blessed Virgin, and 
she is humble, obedient, pious, sweet, and charitable. 



94 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

But if Josephine is obliged to observe the interdic- 
tion, it is not so with uie Blessed Virgin. She, who is 
all-powerful, is not bound to keep the rules made by 
men, and still less is Jesus all-amiable, who for some 
time has appeared to Josephine in company with His 
blessed Mother. The most holy Virgin and Our 
Saviour, through love for us, wishing that we should 
know their divine precepts, their warnings, and their 
menaces, made Josephine speak aloud in a high tone 
many of the words she addressed to them, and repeat 
a portion of the communications which they made to 
her. 

Persons assisting at the apparitions write the words 
they hear. But sometimes they do not expect an ap- 
parition and therefore fail to provide themselves with 
pencils ; at other times they are so overcome they 
cannot write, or they do not catch all the words pro- 
nounced aloud in the ecstasy. 

After this prohibition, the incredulous proclaimed 
more than ever that it was the devil who appeared to 
Josephine. They even went so far as to say to the 
poor victim : " Josephine, it is the demon and not the 
Blessed Virgin who appears to you." This explains 
the commencement of the apparition of the 8th of 
September, 1883, of which the following is the recital, 
given by a witness worthy of belief : 

"The 8th of September we were fifteen persons 
together in the chamber of the apparitions. With 
Josephine we began to recite the Litany of the Blessed 
Virgin. At the moment when we recited this invoca- 
tion : ' Consolation of the afflicted? Josephine fell into 
an ecstasy. We were watching her with attention, 
when she told us to light a blessed candle and give her 



<lppanttonr of Bouller^t. 



some holy water. She threw the holy water at the ap- 
parition, at the same time making the sign of the cross 
and saying aloud : ' Every one says you are the demon. 

If you are the demon, disap ' She could not finish 

the sentence ; but the apparition, instead of disappear- 
ing, inclined herself at the sign of the cross, smiling. 
What was our astonishment when we heard Josephine, 
in ecstasy, repeat aloud, slowly and with an accent 
of inexpressible sadness, the words addressed to her 
by the holy Virgin ; this she had never done before in 
any of her ecstasies. 

" ' God is infinitely good and merciful. He is so 
great and so holy that He is obliged to strike His 
hardened and rebellious people, and even greater when 
He must judge them. His glory commands continual 
respect and adoration ; but His unnatural children 
have only indifference and malice ; they despise, pro- 
fane, abuse, and trample Him under foot every day. 

" ' Ah, my children, let the justice of God inspire you 
with the fear of offending Him, so that you will never 
find yourselves in the shackles and fetters of the demon, 
who will precipitate you into the abyss of hell never 
more to leave it ! Above all, vigilance over yourselves 
in the stormy times of this unhappy world, which must 
soon be stricken. Work for your salvation, in order to 
be ready if you should be found among the number of 
the innocent victims, who will receive, after their mar- 
tyrdom, the palm of victory and triumph. In these 
sad and desolate times, who will stand between you 
and God, to reassure your uneasy and troubled hearts 
amid the terrible and disastrous tempest which will 
devastate a great part of the universe, but especially 
and principally the great cities where every crime is 



g6 2Ippartttotts of Boullereh 

committed ? Our Lady of the Seven Dolors, since God 
has given her to you for a Mother, in this valley of tears, 
of sorrows and of exile. This Mother is also the 
Mother of God, and she prays constantly for you all. 
Moreover, I am particularly compassionate to all the 
sorrows of innocent victims who suffer persecution for 
justice, because I have known all their agonies and 
bitterness on the summit of Calvary where I have suf- 
fered. O my children, who weep and must weep 
still more for the justice and glory of God, I compre- 
hend your sufferings present and future, and I will 
relieve them ; I understand your tears and I will dry 
them. Be convinced that your pains and afflictions, in 
comparison with mine, are nothing. Meditate often on 
the Passion and death of my divine Son and the sorrows 
of my heart, and, in this meditation, place your sorrows 
in parallel with the sorrows of the Mother of God. 

" ' Never has any mother nor any heart suffered so 
much ; notwithstanding, you complain that your suffer- 
ings are very great, and that my Son, who is Master, 
should not punish you with such terrible afflictions, and 
as He is all-powerful He should put a stop to them. 
God gives you the liberty of good and evil ; but know 
that suffering is a benefit rather than an evil, otherwise 
God would not have given a similar destiny to His 
Mother. Know that suffering is short and the recom- 
pense eternal, therefore you should feel harjpy, and 
very happy, to suffer like your heavenly Mother for the 
triumph and glory of God. In order to participate 
thoroughly in my sufferings, from which you will ob- 
tain great graces and privileges, recite every day the 
chaplet of the Seven Dolors, as I have ordered. For 
those who are prevented by their occupations from re- 



21ppartttons of ^oulferet. 97 

citing the complete chaplet, I will indicate the manner 
of saying it briefly. It is the same as the com- 
plete chaplet, but instead of the Hail Mary on the 
forty-nine small beads, you will recite this invocation : 
1 Our Lady of the Seven Dolors, pray for us and for 
the salvation of France.' Finish by saying on the 
three beads which follow the medal, the ordinary Hail 
Mary, and once the Hail Mary of Our Lady of Com- 
passion. You will feel the power of these divine words 
deposited at my feet, for it is there, near my trans- 
pierced heart, that you will be fully consoled. 

" ' My children, from the present time provide your- 
selves with blessed candles, scapulars, medals of Our 
Lady of Perpetual Help, chaplets and pictures of the 
Sacred Heart, to be prepared for the events which will 
overtake you.' 

" At this moment we heard Josephine say to the holy 
Virgin : ' O my good Mother, I will then vomit no 
more ! ' She continued to repeat aloud the words of 
the Blessed Virgin : 

" * My child, the time for again taking up the cross, 
which for thee is a great torture, is not distant. It 
will be on the 18th of this month ; but do not be 
disheartened ; for thee suffering is indispensable. God 
does not wish to preserve thee from it. The raising of 
blood will not always be so abundant as in preceding 
years ; but at times great suffering and weakness, 
which will always exist in thee, will again oblige thee 
to be confined to thy room and thy bed. Above all, 
have courage ! God and thy mother protectress will 
give thee all the consolations and necessary facilities 
to fulfil well thy duties, especially as a wife and a 
good Christian mother. 



98 Apparitions of Boulleret 

" ' My children, I desire that you seek and wish but 
one thing, which includes all things : To find God, to see 
Him, to possess Him and to be beloved by Him. And 
repeat always : — ' My God, all that Thou wiliest, as Thou 
wiliest it, and as much as Thou wiliest. I accept all to 
obtain the kingdom of heaven. ' And in heaven you 
will taste delicious joys and sweet perfumes ; you will 
chant, in choir, the praises of the Saviour of the world.' ' 

It was at the end of this apparition that Josephine, 
still in ecstasy, found herself in a church, where she 
assisted at a ceremony which will take place at the 
time of the triumph of France : a ceremony of which 
we will not speak, as we strike out of the apparitions 
all that would make it said that the Association is not 
solely an association of prayer to honor the seven 
wounds of the heart of Mary, according to her desire. 
The Blessed Virgin has promised us the triumph after 
the chastisements ; Josephine has assisted in ecstasy 
at the chastisements and at the triumph ; pray, honor 
the seven wounds of the heart of Mary and have confi- 
dence. We will not occupy ourselves in seeking to 
know or become acquainted of what this triumph will 
consist. Let it suffice us to know that God and Our 
Lady of the Seven Dolors will save France. In one of 
the apparitions, on this subject, the Blessed Virgin has 
said not to search. 

Article Thirtieth. — Apparition of the 14th of October, 

1883. ' 

The 14th of October, 1883, on Sunday, feast of the 
Maternity, fifteen persons were in Josephine's room ; 
suddenly the Blessed Virgin appeared to her. Jose- 
phine cried out: "O my good Mother, how beautiful 



Apparitions of Boulkret. 99 

you are ! " These were the only words she pronounced 
aloud during the ecstasy. 

Article lliirty-ftrst. — Apparition of the 8th of December, 

1883. 

On the feast of the Immaculate Conception, at half- 
past one o'clock in the afternoon, several persons recited 
the chaplet of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors in Jose- 
phine's room. Having finished the chaplet, Josephine 
recited the Litany of the Blessed Virgin. At the in- 
vocation Morning Star, she entered into ecstasy. The 
Blessed Virgin appeared to her, vested in a robe of 
heavenly blue spangled with golden stars, and holding 
a large star of gold in her hand. Josephine, in ecstasy, 
said aloud : " O my good Mother, since you are truly 
the holy Virgin, why do you deign to appear to so great 
a sinner ? No, my good Mother, I will never again 
say : it is perhaps the demon ; I will never pronounce 
this word any more." 

Then Josephine saw the following tableau : On one 
side Our Lord Jesus Christ was standing before His 
cross ; His countenance was imprinted with sadness ; 
He was crowned with thorns and had His Sacred Heart 
open on His bosom. 

The Blessed Virgin said something to Josephine 
which she did not reveal ; after that, she repeated 
aloud the words of the most holy Virgin : " My children, 
I recommend you earnestly to pray to Our Lady of Per- 
petual Succor. I recommend also to the benefactresses 
of Josephine to propagate and distribute in profusion 
the pious objects which I designated on the 8th of 
September and the nth of October, blessed candles, 
scapulars, medals of Our Lady of Perpetual Succor, 



ioo Apparitions of Boulleret. 

and pictures of the Sacred Heart. But it does not 
suffice to be provided with these sacred objects in order 
to be protected ; in addition, it is necessary to have 
a very pure heart/' 

Looking at the Christian mothers who were present, 
the Blessed Virgin added : " Christian mothers, weep, 
pray and suffer. The time for penance is short, the 
recompense is eternal. Pray, pray much." 

After these words, Josephine came out of her ecstasy, 
which had lasted twenty minutes. 

The most holy Virgin recommended them to provide 
themselves with blessed candles. Why these blessed 
candles ? As we said in the Review of December 1887 
and January 1888 : the last chastisement will consist 
in three days of pestilential darkness, during which 
men given to vice will die in such great numbers that 
the earth will resemble a desert, as was said at La S alette. 
Blessed candles only will give light. Let the associates 
then not fail to procure a sufficient number of wax 
candles to last three days, and have them blessed. The 
three days' darkness was announced by the venerable 
Anna Maria Tai'gi and other prophetesses. See the 
Review of December 1887 and January 1888. 

Article Thirty-second. — Apparition of the ijth of May, 

1884. 

The Blessed Virgin appeared on the 13th of May, 
1884, to Josephine. Nothing is known of this appari- 
tion, as she did not pronounce a single word aloud. 

Article Thirty-third. — Apparition of the 2d of Febru^ 
ary, 1885. 

On this day the most holy Virgin appeared to Jose- 



2Ippartttott5 of Bonllcret. 101 

phine. The apparition lasted more than an hour. The 
Blessed Virgin again announced the great plagues or 
chastisements. She said: " The disasters are approach- 
ing and are very near." She recommended the re- 
citation of the chaplet of the seven dolors. 

As we have said several times in our Monthly Review, 
the Association in honor of Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors having been established, and, after three years, 
more than 53,000 persons having been received and 
responded to the desire of the Mother of sorrows, the 
chastisements certainly have been retarded and will 
be shorter. In this apparition the Blessed Virgin said, 
that we must not wish them to come, and that their 
announcement need no longer trouble us. It is neces- 
sary then that the associates delay them more and 
more by reciting the chaplet with fervor and piety, and 
by doing all in their power to find, near and far, many 
new associates. 

Article Thirty-fourth. — Apparition of the ijth of May, 
188 J. — The Blessed Virgin sends us to aid Josephine 

and her Family. 

It was in this apparition of the 13th of May, 1885, 
that the Blessed Virgin sent us to Josephine to assist 
her. In this apparition Josephine recited the chaplet 
of the seven dolors of the desolate Mother. She saw 
before her successively the living pictures of the 
dolors of Mary, and shed many tears. She recited 
the Litany of the Blessed Virgin and at the end this 
invocation to St. Michael : " St. Michael archangel, 
remember us, protect and guard us, everywhere and 
always, but especially at the terrible time of the chas- 
tisement, that we may not perish." 



io2 Apparitions of Soulleret. 

This is the account of the apparition which 
Josephine gave us with the permission of her con- 
fessor : 

While a certain number of persons were gathered 
in Josephine's room, and the hour at which the ap- 
parition took place approached, Josephine did not wish 
the Blessed Virgin to appear, because they repeated 
the words which she pronounced aloud in her ecstasy 
incorrectly, and this occasioned her pain and annoy- 
ance. Now, whilst she had this thought in her mind, 
Our Lady of the Seven Dolors appeared to her and 
said : " Thou knowest well that I am all-powerful and 
that I can appear to thee even when thou dost not 
wish it." 

At these words all-powerful, Josephine said to the 
Blessed Virgin : " Why, you can cure me, if God gives 
you so much power. You see my needs and those of 
my family, how we are plunged in misery." Here is 
the response of the Blessed Virgin : 

" My child, to ask a cure is to no longer wish to 
suffer. I know thy misery and extreme needs. Let 
thy confidence and hope found themselves, support and 
repose on the treasures of the providential graces of 
God. He alone will suffice thee. He possesses in- 
exhaustible riches which He deposits in the hands of 
an honest treasurer and w r orthy confidant. This faith- 
ful steward will come to thy aid and procure great 
comfort and an amelioration of thy physical sufferings 
and mental pains by his helpful and permanent work 
of chanty. Be a faithful servant, submissive, obedient, 
and devoted to the service of thy good Master, and 
assuredly He will not fail to provide for all your tem- 
poral and material needs by His interpreter, that is 



Apparitions of 23oulteret. 103 

to say, thy benevolent protector, in a word, by thy bene- 
factors and benefactresses, and He will shed on you an 
abundance of spiritual graces which will give you the 
strength and courage to support all your adversities." 

Article Thirty-fifth. — Apparition of the ijth of May, 
1886. — Revelation by Our Lord of the Act of Love. 

We quote the Review of October 1886, in which we 
recounted the circumstances in the midst of which the 
revelation of the Act of Love was made. 

" It rests with me to say under what circumstances 
this Act of Love was revealed to Josephine, the wife of 
a sabot-maker : thus Our Saviour one day taught the 
Our Father to His apostles, who were poor fishermen 
of Galilee. 

u But how were they able to learn these circumstances, 
as Josephine did not indicate them in her ecstasy, and 
as she had not made them known after her apparition, 
she having been forbidden to speak of her apparitions ? 
How has she been able to make known these circum- 
stances, or rather some one of them, when, at the time 
she is interrogated on her apparitions, we know she is 
like iron and marble ? 

" Josephine observes the prohibition which has been 
imposed upon her by her ecclesiastical superiors, and 
even with much greater fidelity because the Blessed 
Virgin had told her several times to obey, and we be- 
lieve she has never failed, of deliberate purpose, in her 
obedience. But sometimes without thinking, through 
inadvertence, she says a word, or replies to a question. 
And as they wish to remember it, as soon as she per- 
ceives she is speaking of her ecstasies, she interrupts 
herself and says : ' But I must say nothing/ On 



104 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

these occasions we have seen her experience the most 
lively pain and her eyes fill with tears. We have never 
insisted on an answer, for emotion overtakes us also, 
and in seeing her bitter grief we have wept with her. 
Who would dare to reproach her for this sort of imper- 
fection, for are there not some defects of which it may 
properly be said that the consent makes the fault ? 
Here is her reply when they renewed the prohibition 
they had imposed : ' Order me to close the door of 
my room and to receive no one, for, all that you want 
me to do, as well as this prohibition, I will obey with 
all the fidelity of which I am capable ; but at one 
moment or another, without my will, when I do not 
wish it, and inadvertently, I surprise myself saying a 
few words of my apparitions.' 

"The details we are going to recount were given us 
by Madame Reverdy. This lady having passed eight 
or ten days with her sister-in-law, remained con- 
stantly at the foot of her bed : thus it had been very 
difficult for Josephine to remain so mute as not to 
respond sometimes to the questions that were asked 
of her. 

" Josephine at first saw a very beautiful cloud, and 
she cried out : ' What a beautiful cloud ! ' But seeing 
nothing more she felt sure that the Blessed Virgin had 
abandoned her and she began to weep. Then, we 
believe, she chanted the canticle : ' To our succor, 
Virgin Mary.' We think it was after having finished 
the canticle that the cloud divided into three parts, one 
above, two at the sides ; the centre being left open, 
Josephine saw a road which she compared to the one 
going to Jarrier. This road ascended in a zig-zag man- 
ner, and there were parts where she could not perceive 



Apparitions of Boufferct. 105 

the points where it turned. It was bordered with 
flowers and behind the flowers were some bushes, while 
on each bush a little black cross was raised. At the 
upper end of the road, Josephine saw a large and very 
beautiful gate, on which was written in letters of gold : 
Gate of He az' en. 

" Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin appeared to the 
victim : we think it was at the beginning of this road; 
but as Josephine said nothing, we do not know ; she, 
Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin, and her Angel Guardian 
alone know. 

"Josephine was confined to her bed without 
strength; she had been raised to a sitting posture be- 
fore her ecstasy. Our Lord and the most holy Vir- 
gin were before her, at the foot of the bed, Our Lord 
at her right and the Blessed Virgin at her left. We do 
not know how the Blessed Virgin was attired, but 
Jesus all-amiable wore the same garment in which He 
showed Himself to Josephine in the other apparitions ; 
He was vested in a white robe, a sort of alb, of a 
transparent texture and a celestial beauty, of which 
the material called rice would give a faint idea. His 
cincture was formed of a heavy white cord. His hair 
was parted in the middle ; His beard, which was rather 
long and curly, was divided in the centre of His chin. 
In His left hand He held a cross the color of wood, 
resting on the ground, and raised about four inches 
above His head, to which were attached some crowns 
of red roses. His right arm was raised and His hand 
extended over Josephine like a priest when he imposes 
his hand on the head of the infant which he baptizes. 
His arm was not entirely extended, but was slightly 
curved, His hand being raised to about the height of 



106 2tpparittotts of Boulleret. 

His forehead. His heart was in the centre of His 
bosom on His white robe ; it was bleeding, but the 
blood did not flow ; it was surrounded by a crown 
of black thorns, and surmounted by a little black 
cross. 

" The most holy Virgin commenced to speak to 
Josephine. We do not know what she said to her. 
Then Our Lord spoke to the prophetess, and this was 
the first time He had addressed a word to her. We 
are not aware of His communication to her, with the 
exception of the following, which is given word for 
word : ' / desire that thou makest this prayer known and 
that they recite it every day.' Necessarily, Our Lord 
must have said to Josephine : l Thou must recite the 
prayer which I am going to give thee, and I desire that 
thou makest it known and they recite it every day.' 
We think these words must have been addressed to 
Josephine before the prayer was revealed. 

" Then there was formed on the breast of our divine 
Saviour three lines : the first, rather long ; the second, 
somewhat longer, drawn under . the first — it must have 
been the whole width across the holy bosom of Jesus ; 
the third was the same length as the first. These 
three lines were formed of words set with capital 
letters of gold, about a centimetre in height. The 
title appeared first, then the prayer, which Josephine 
recited with attention, respect, love, and an angelic 
tenderness. When she had finished the last line, 
the third, rapidly, almost without seeing it, the three 
lines which she had read disappeared, and three 
others replaced them, continuing the Act of Love. 
Those who assisted at this apparition saw that Jose- 
phine stopped at certain times : it was when her eyes 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 107 

were raised from the last line to the first, to continue 
the reading. 

" We believe it our duty to tell under what circum- 
stances the Act of Love was placed in our hands. 

" The words which Josephine pronounced during 
her ecstasy and those which the Blessed Virgin ad- 
dressed to her engraved themselves in her memory in 
such a manner, that if she had been permitted she 
could have recalled and repeated them as if she had 
read them in a book, even after eight or ten years had 
elapsed. Of some words she was in doubt ; she could 
not recall if it was such a word she heard or some other : 
but these words are not essential. Last July one of her 
brothers, with his wife, was on a visit at her house. 
Josephine, heretofore, recited the Act of Love every day. 
Fearing, that after some years, she might forget one or 
perhaps several words, she begged her brother to write 
it at her dictation, so that she might preserve it and 
have it at her disposal to consult in case of need. Jesus 
wished it thus so that His desire might be fulfilled with- 
out delay. And in that Josephine did not fail in obedi- 
ence to the prohibition which had been given her. M. 
Reverdy then took a pencil and some paper. Josephine 
wishing it written with ink, insisted that he should use 
ink. Her brother replied that he could write it quicker 
with a pencil and afterwards he would copy it in ink : 
Jesus wished it thus. M. Reverdy, notwithstanding 
the entreaties of his sister and his own good-will, for 
he by no means designed carrying away the prayer, 
could not find one moment, during the two or three days 
he still passed at Boulleret, to make this transcription 
in ink. At the moment of starting, he said to Josephine 
that he was going to take the prayer with him, to write 



io8 Apparitions of Boulleret 

it in ink at his own house and he would then return it 
to her. Jesus willed it thus, so that His desire might be 
fulfilled without delay. 

" Here are the other circumstances of the accom- 
plishment of the desire of Jesus all-amiable. We 
visited Josephine last year in the month of April, after- 
ward in the month of October, and we were to go to see 
her this year about the 2 2d of July. At the time of 
our visit in October, before going to Josephine's house, 
we deviated from our course, to go and obtain, while 
near this brother, some details of the family of Reverdy. 
M. Reverdy and his wife welcomed us with much 
hospitality and made us promise, when we returned 
from Boulleret, to stop at their house. We made this 
promise ; it was recalled in several letters and we 
did not hesitate to renew it. 

" Ah, well, we say it without evasion, we did not have 
the intention of keeping it in July last. To go to 
Boulleret by the railroad it is necessary to pass one 
night in the train, and we always travel third-class ; to 
go and see M. Reverdy and remain some hours at his 
house would necessitate our passing another night in 
a third-class car. It was very warm about the 10th of 
July ; we were somewhat fatigued, so we resolved not 
to visit M. Reverdy, that we might not have to pass a 
second night on the railroad. But Jesus willed that 
we should go to the house of Josephine's brother, be- 
cause He wished to put into our hands the Act of Love, 
He wished that His desire would be fulfilled without 
delay. 

" We wrote to Josephine that we would take the train 
for Boulleret the 18th of July, in the evening. Now M. 
Reverdy was at Boulleret when our letter arrived there ; 



2lppartttons of Boulfcret. 109 



having nothing more urgent, he wrote and insisted that 
we must redeem our promise of going to see him. We 
could not refuse ; we acceded to his desire ; or rather 
we acceded to the will of Jesus all-amiable. 

" We arrived at the house of M. Reverdy in the after- 
noon of the 19th. He and his wife spoke of Josephine, 
then of the Act of Love. We desired to read it. M. 
Reverdy conducted us into his office. We requested 
him to allow us to transcribe this prayer into our 
memorandum book. This he did quite naturally, with- 
out any difficulty or objection, for Jesus wished to 
place this Act in our hands. Two or three hours after, 
we again took the train, where we had to pass our 
second night, but we would with joy willingly spend a 
thousand nights on the railroad in a third-class car, 
since it was our good fortune to hold in our hands the 
treasure of Jesus ! It was only on the following day that 
M. Reverdy became aware of his mistake, and wrote 
to his sister a letter full of excuses, which we read. 
U I cannot comprehend," said he, "how it was pos- 
sible that it could have taken place." As for Josephine, 
she said nothing, neither did she appear to be 
astonished at seeing this prayer in our possession. If 
she had earnestly and simply asked it of us, we 
would have given it to her, as we have for her the 
same respect and attachment, and we would have the 
same obedience if she commanded us to do anything, 
as St. John had for Mary, when God confided her to 
him. In the ecstasy of May 13th last, when she said 
that she was a very mean creature to fulfil this mis- 
sion, perhaps Our Lord told her that He would appoint 
some one to assist her ; and we believe she acted ac- 
cording to His desire about this prayer, knowing that 



Apparitions of Bottlleret. 



the work was to be accomplished by another. The Act 
was in our hands, and as we had published some works 
and had had printing done for about fifteen years, it 
was soon in the hands of our printer, and thousands of 
copies spread over France. A first edition of six thou- 
sand was soon exhausted, and a second edition of ten 
thousand will be struck off to-day. Jesus wished that 
His desire would be fulfilled without delay. 

" See what we said in the Review of October 1886, 
touching the impression of the Act of Love ; since then 
and until to-day, 1st of September, 1889, this revealed 
prayer has been printed many times ; from the com- 
mencement, there have been struck off eighty-six thou- 
sand copies. 

"The words of Our Lord to Josephine: ' 1 desire 
that thou makest this prayer known and that they recite it 
every day J address themselves to all those who know 
of it. To respond to the desire of Jesus all-amiable, 
they must recite the Act of Love every day and make it 
known near and far." 

Since that time, about two hundred thousand copies 
of the Act of Love have been printed and it is trans- 
lated into Italian, English, Spanish, German, and Arabic 
(16th February, 1891). 

Article Thirty-sixth. — Apparition of the ijth of Afay, 
1887. 

We quote a part of the Review of 1887, which was 
written at Rome, where we were stopping at that time, 
and in which we gave an account of the apparition of 
the 13th of May, 1887, and the condition of Josephine 
during the preceding Lent. 

"We are writing this letter to-day, May 19th, feast of 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 1 1 1 

the Ascension of Our Lord. We should have com- 
menced it on the 13th anniversary of Josephine's 
birth, and the day on which, since the year 1883, the 
Blessed Virgin, sometimes alone, sometimes with her 
divine Son, has appeared to her, in fine, first anniver- 
sary of the revelation of the Ad of Love, But the 13th 
of May we were in the Convent of SS. John and Paul, 
beyond and a short distance from the Coliseum, follow- 
ing the exercises of the pastoral retreat which was 
preached from the 8th to the 14th of this month; and 
for which we had obtained the permission of his Emi- 
nence the Cardinal Vicar. Entirely occupied with these 
pious and holy exercises, we could not write this in- 
struction on the 13th of May. We allowed no day to 
pass without praying and supplicating the Blessed 
Virgin to appear to Josephine to console her; to ex- 
empt her from vomiting blood until the month of Sep- 
tember the same as for the last four years, and to give 
her a little strength to attend to the affairs of her 
family. 

" The account which we had received of her would 
have induced us to ask it of God and Our Lady of the 
Seven Dolors, if our pious and holy devotion for the 
immolated victim had not commanded us. Her eldest 
daughter wrote us on the 21st of April: * Pardon 
us if we are late in writing to you. We have all 
been sick, and my father has not yet recovered. 
Mother was very ill on the feast of the Compassion 
and is still worse these days. The 19th and 20th 
she raised two basins of blood, part pure, and part 
clotted ; in short, she suffered a martyrdom. To-day 
she vomited twenty-one times : she has had some horri- 
ble turns ; she also raised corruption and bile ; at 



ii2 Apparitions of 23outleret. 

times we believed her dead. We are very much 
afflicted, and it is necessary to pray much for us.' 
The family of the prophetess, or rather the immolated 
victim, is greatly afflicted, as Mary His Mother, St. 
John the well-beloved disciple, and the holy women 
were afflicted on Calvary, when the divine immolated 
Victim shed His blood for us. 

" On the 3d of May Ernestine wrote us : ' Mother is 
still very sick. Last week she did not raise less than 
five pints of pure blood ; in short, she is lying as one 
dead.' A person very worthy of belief, a friend of 
Josephine's, wrote us on the 12th of April. ' Yesterday, 
Good Friday, I went to Boulleret. I arrived there at 
half-past one in the afternoon. The basin that Jose- 
phine always has near her on the bed was full of 
blood. She had raised *t seven times since morning; 
the last crisis took place at midday. She was aston- 
ished at vomiting only seven times on this day ; in 
other years it occurred fourteen times from morning 
until three o'clock in the afternoon. 

" ' At three o'clock we recited the chaplet of Our 
Lady of the Seven Dolors. At times the victim said 
she suffered with her heart as she had never suffered 
before; that her wounds were burning (these were 
the seven wounds of the seven strokes of the poignard 
that the devil had given her six years before). It seemed 
to her that her whole body was in a profuse perspira- 
tion, and she dared not make any movement. She is 
tried in this manner on certain days of great suffering. 
At half-past four o'clock I left Josephine to return 
home. 

" This is what they related to us several days after. 
On Good Friday, about six o'clock in the evening, 



Apparitions or Bonllerei 113 

Josephine suffered what she believed to be a cold 
sweat, and at the same time felt a weight on her chest. 
She placed her hand on her wounds, and took it away 
covered with blood. Her mother, her husband, and 
her eldest daughter came to her. They saw that the 
fifth wound, that of the heart, which had been closed 
like the others for a long time, was now open ; the 
blood burst forth in streams ; a great quantity was 
coagulated. Without any doubt, the wound remained 
open for three hours, and the blood ran out, as it had 
flowed the same day and at the same hour from the 
breast of our divine Saviour, when the soldier trans- 
pierced Him with the lance. This blood, which issued 
and congealed on the breast of the victim, was what 
she believed to be the perspiration and heaviness 
which she felt. What was not the sorrow of Jose- 
phine's family on seeing her inundated with blood ! 
Her husband was so affected that he became ill. Poor 
family ! The pious and tender souls who passed on 
Calvary when Jesus was attached to the cross and 
breathed His last sigh, must also have said in seeing 
His Mother plunged in the most bitter sorrows : Poor 
Mother ! When the venerable Anna Maria- Taigi was 
seized with an ecstasy which kept her immovable, her 
husband believed her to be attacked with apoplexy, 
and her youngest daughter wept and cried out : ' My 
mother is dead ! My mother is dead ! ' The sorrow of 
this family was great also, but it was not comparable to 
that of the family of the victim of Boulleret. It is true 
that Josephine is a victim as Our Lord was. an immo- 
lated victim, shedding her blood for the conversion of 
sinners and the salvation of France. 

" This is the account we received of Josephine. And 
8 



1 14 Apparitions of Boullcrct. 

we will redouble our prayers and supplications and 
beg of Our Lord to send her His heavenly Mother, 
as He sent an angel to His divine Son to fortify Him 
when He was sinking under the weight of His sorrows 
in the garden of Gethsemani. Several among you write 
to us and say that you prayed also on your part, in 
order that the most holy Virgin would deign to visit 
the victim to console and fortify her. 

" Well ! dear associates who have prayed with us for 
this intention, our prayers have been granted ; God has 
responded to our pious and just desire. 

"Josephine had an apparition on the 18th of May, 
some time between half-past one and half-past two in 
the afternoon. The ecstasy lasted about fifteen min- 
utes. There were about seventy persons in her cham- 
ber, who came from all parts of France. The Blessed 
Virgin and Our Lord appeared to her. The poor vic- 
tim was lying in bed since Good Friday, looking like a 
corpse. During and after her ecstasy, her voice, as 
well as her strength, was restored in great part, so much 
so, that after her apparition she entreated those who 
were present to thank the Blessed Virgin, if not for a 
complete cure, — for she must suffer until her death — 
at least for her improved condition, which was very 
marked. 

" At first she saw a cloud, as in the past year : but not 
seeing the Blessed Virgin, she was sad and complained. 
Then the most holy Virgin showed herself to her, and 
afterwards Our Lord. She thanked our divine Saviour 
for having given Himself to her that day, for the cure of 
the parish had carried the holy communion to her in 
the morning, and came to visit her in the evening. As 
in the past year, in her ecstasy, she chanted several 



Apparitions of 23outterei. 115 

canticles; she recited the Act of Love and also the in- 
vocation : ' St. Michael archangel, remember us, protect 
and guard us everywhere and always, but especially at 
the time of the terrible chastisement, that we may not 
perish.' 

" On two occasions the Blessed Virgin said to Jose- 
phine that God was going to punish France ; for, in 
speaking of the extermination of the wicked, which He 
will make use of for the first chastisement, and for the 
new victory of the archangel St. Michael over Satan 
and His accomplices, the Blessed Virgin announced 
the misfortunes which are to fall on France, Italy, and 
Europe. The words we are about to quote were pro- 
nounced by Josephine during her ecstasy. It may be 
that they have not been sent to us as accurately as 
they were pronounced, but the sense is there, and the 
greater number if not all the words themselves : 
1 From the height of heaven, our divine Saviour casts 
a favorable look of benevolence and ineffable tender- 
ness on the meek and humble of heart, and attracts 
them to Himself. He sees the proud and hastens . . . 
(remark this expression, which is repeated in the follow- 
ing phrase) and hastens to put them to flight with His 
thunderbolts. From the height of the heavens, mill- 
ions of celestial spirits compose an army. St. Michael 
archangel at their head carries the emblem of victory, 
and, with his sword, at the voice of God he goes to 
execute His orders, precipitating to the bottom of the 
abyss the infernal dragon with all his rebellious accom- 
plices.' 

" Therefore, the disasters are at hand. God, whose 
mercy is infinite, but whose justice is also infinite, will 
finally avenge Himself upon ungrateful and guilty 



n6 2lppanttons of Boulleret. 

men, who no longer wish to wear His yoke so sweet 
and light, and who, not only neither love nor serve 
Him, these two ends for which He created them, but 
rise against Him, the one denying His existence, the 
other blaspheming Him. The Blessed Virgin made 
known to us, on the 2d of February, 1885, that the dis- 
asters predicted by Anna Maria Taigi sixty or seventy 
years ago, and announced at La Salette forty years ago, 
were near — very near : now, this month, the 13th of 
May, she said to us that these disasters are at hand. 
How many years will yet elapse before the just anger 
of God will break out ? We do not know, but as- 
suredly, it will not be long before France, Italy, and 
Europe are on fire and in blood. The Blessed Virgin also 
said at Boulleret, on the 2d of February, 1885, that sin- 
ners will not be converted at the first plague, which will 
consist of a civil war and a European war, predicted 
at La Salette and by Anna Maria Taigi, but at the sec- 
ond plague, which will consist in three days of dark- 
ness, spoken of by this last and other prophetess, 
during which blessed candles alone will give light, and 
at that time men given to vice will die. It is then that 
sinners whom the vengeance of God will spare will 
be converted ; it is then also the triumph of the Church, 
Rome, and France will take place as predicted by Anna 
Maria Taigi, and at La Salette and Boulleret. 

" In this apparition the Blessed Virgin made many 
complaints of the freemasons, who prevent their 
children from learning the truths of religion, those 
truths which they should know from the age of reason, 
in order to practise them from that time and, later on, 
their duties towards God. 

"As we said before, the apparition lasted about 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 117 

fifteen minutes. There were long moments of silence, 
during which Josephine appeared to listen, but did 
not repeat what she heard, as God would not permit 
her. 

" Several persons addressed us, begging that we would 
recommend them to Josephine, and commission her to 
petition the Blessed Virgin to grant their requests. 
This is what we read in the account of the apparition. 
Josephine, speaking to the most holy Virgin, said : 
c O my good Mother, how can I express myself to 
make known to you the recommendations which each 
one brings, praying to have it deposited at your feet ? ' 
The Blessed Virgin replied : * These recommenda- 
tions and prayers are deposited and written in the 
hearts of Jesus and Mary.' 

"Although this recital of the apparition of the 13th 
of May be imperfect, Josephine not having had per- 
mission for some years to render an account of her 
ecstasies, nevertheless, we must thank God for hav- 
ing made her speak aloud and repeat some of the 
words of the most holy Virgin. We should offer to 
God some prayers to thank Him ; but our gratitude 
must not stop there. God is about to strike the culpable 
world ; what must we do, we members of the Associa- 
tion of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors, we pious and 
devoted servants of Mary desolate, this tender Mother, 
afflicted with sorrow in seeing the calamities which 
are about to overtake her children, a great number of 
them being precipitated into hell with the infernal ser- 
pent ? What must we do, when the arm of God is 
about to raise and strike us ? Ah ! we must redouble 
our prayers, mortifications and penances, and give our- 
selves no rest until we have saved our relations, friends 



1 18 2JppartHottS of Boulleret. 

and acquaintances, from the terrible chastisements 
which will break out. Yes, it is indeed a duty for us, 
a duty of charity towards our brothers, a duty of love 
towards our desolate Mother. Then, the disasters be- 
ing at hand, we must not rest in the work of saving our 
brothers; distributing medals and chaplets ; and sending 
long lists of names to inscribe on the register of Our 
Lady of the Seven Dolors. What would you have 
done in the time of Abraham and Lot, if you had 
inhabited Sodom, and the angel had entered your 
house and said to you : God is going to cause fire 
from heaven to fall on this culpable city ; hasten to 
leave it, and take with you your neighbors and friends 
and those whom you wish to save ? If you are several 
associates in the same city, or the same village, unite 
once or twice in the week on Friday or Saturday, to 
recite the chaplet of the seven dolors, the Stabat Mater 
and the office, so that because of you, of your piety, 
your faith, your love for Alary desolate, the city, the 
hamlet, the village, the house you inhabit, will be pre- 
served. Thus Our Lord announced to the Abbess of 
Lavaur, Mother Teresa of Jesus, now many years 
dead, that because of her this city would be preserved 
from misfortunes. 

" Then, my very dear associates, be zealous, zeal- 
ous, always be zealous ! Let us make efforts to love 
God with all our hearts, to love Mary disconsolate, 
and to think of her sorrows day and night. And above 
all — we would wish to commence by this all our 
Letters — Oh ! do not merit the reproaches Our Saviour 
addresses to certain souls who call themselves pious, 
but are far from meriting this name. Approach fre- 
quently the holy table and make it your chief care to 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 



walk at a great pace in the road of perfection, and to 
make good and holy communions. 

Article Thirty-seventh. — Apparition of May J 1st \ 1887. 

We give an extract of the Letter of November 1887, 
in which we narrate an account of a visit we made to 
the victim in the month of the preceding September, 
and of the apparition which took place May 31st, 1887. 

" We passed twelve days at Boulleret, from the 16th 
to the 28th. Assuredly, this time was sufficient for the 
visit of a friend, and it would suffice for our heart and 
our holy affection for the victim, if these twelve days 
had not passed as twelve minutes. To enjoy the sight 
of God in heaven and the infinite gifts He reserves for 
us will require all eternity. One could pass his time 
contentedly in this chamber of the apparitions at Boul- 
leret where Jesus revealed the Art of Love, and where 
the most holy Virgin has appeared so often : one could 
pass his time as well as at Lourdes, at La Salette, or at 
Paray-le-Monial ; indeed one could pass his whole life 
satisfactorily at Boulleret. On arriving there the soul, 
palpitating with joy and emotion, is filled with happi- 
ness. Ah ! with what anguish of heart one goes away 
from it ! 

" In what condition did we find Josephine ? From the 
13th of May, when the vomitings ceased, her strength 
returned little by little, although slowly. When we 
saw her, she was able to rise, with the aid of her hus- 
band and eldest daughter, at about ten or eleven o'clock 
in the morning ; and she retired at five in the evening. 
Once up, she can walk in her room, which is not very 
large, only by holding the wall and furniture, and she 
seats herself often, half lying on a lounge or extension 



126 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

chair, to rest. When she is not too fatigued she knits 
stockings for her family, the only work she can do, and 
even has to rest from that, from time to time. For the 
exemptions which the Blessed Virgin has given her for 
the last four years, from the 13th of May until the end 
of September, are only from the vomitings and not from 
the sufferings which she endures. She will be obliged to 
suffer until her death for the conversion of sinners, the 
salvation of the Church, Rome, and France : she suffers 
always, every day more or less, even during the time 
she is released from raising blood. 

" Since May 13th she has been able to go to church 
only two or three times, walking with great difficulty, 
supported by her mother and eldest daughter. The 
church is about an eighth of a mile from the house. As 
her room is on the first floor, when she is ready to go 
to church, her husband carries her in his arms to the 
ground floor. 

"From the 19th September, 1877, until May 13th, 
1883, Josephine vomited blood every day except Satur- 
days and the feast-days of the Blessed Virgin, and she 
could take nourishment only on the days when she re- 
ceived the Blessed Sacrament. Sometimes she was 
unable to receive holy communion, being prevented by 
her illness from going to church more than four or five 
times in eight months : the 13th of May, 1883, and it 
has been the same every year since on that day, the 
Blessed Virgin has appeared to her and exempted her 
from the vomitings until the end of September. More- 
over, reckoning from the present year, as the holy Virgin 
had announced to her, a part of her mission of the vomit- 
ings was accomplished. i When thou shalt have at- 
tained the age of thirty-three years, a part of thy mis- 



Apparitions of 3oulleret. 121 

sion of the vomitings will be accomplished.' Start- 
ing from this year, Josephine would only raise matter 
during the months of October, November and March, 
and the vomiting of blood would never be so abundant 
as in the past, except sometimes*on Fridays. Moreover, 
she can take nourishment on days even when she has 
not received holv communion. So, during the twelve 
days we passed at Boulleret, she sat at table with her 
family at the midday repast and ate a little of whatever 
was served. 

" They wrote us that the vomitings had returned on 
the 30th of September. Many do not comprehend how 
she can be a victim by vomiting blood. It is of little 
importance for a victim whether the blood be shed 
through the feet, the hands, the side, or the mouth. 
Our Lord shed His blood through the wounds of His 
feet and hands because of His death on the cross. 
The martyrs obtained the remission of their own sins 
and the conversion of sinners by the effusion of their 
blood through the wound of the head, when they were 
decapitated. A great number of them have certainly 
shed their blood by their mouths owing to the bad treat- 
ment inflicted on them. When Josephine raised matter, 
it was like the water which came out of the Heart of 
Our Saviour with the last drops of His blood. Besides, 
when she raises this viscous matter, it seems to her as 
if she were casting up boiling vinegar : her sufferings 
with her blood are the price of the salvation of 
France. 

" Such is the actual state of the victim whom the 
Blessed Virgin has chosen for the conversion of sinners, 
the salvation of the Church, of Rome and France, 
victim whom they will not cease to praise and exalt 



122 2tppartttons of Soulleret. 



after the triumph of our country, and who will leave 
in the history of the world an ineffaceable mark. Rome 
speaks only with a holy respect of the Venerable Anna 
Maria Taigi, wife of one of the domestics of the Prince 
Chigi : thus France aftA" her triumph will speak with 
respect, gratitude and exaltation of Josephine, the wife 
of the sabot-maker of Boulleret. 

" But, it is our duty to say to you : the most beau- 
tiful temple in the world was raised to St. Peter, the 
fisherman of Galilee. God, said St. Paul, has chosen 
those of whom there are no lower in the ranks of 
society, to confound the pride of the rich and powerful. 
She is the wife of a sabot-maker, they say to us with 
disdain and contempt ; what consequence, if she has 
been chosen like Judith to save her nation ? And what 
was Joan of Arc ? She guarded the little flock of her 
father when she was chosen by God to deliver France, 
putting herself at the head of the army, to conquer and 
take the king to Rheims, in order to keep him inviolate. 

" To the zelators and associates whom we have had 
occasion to see during our journey, those who write to us, 
asking us in emulation of each other if the Blessed Virgin 
had not appeared since the 13th of May, if she did not 
appear on the Sunday of the feast of Our Lady of the 
Seven Dolors, last month, we can say that on the 31st 
of May last several friends of Josephine were in her 
room. She was in bed, when suddenly she was seized 
with a very great terror and asked for holy water. She 
sprinkled herself with it and soon after fell into an 
ecstasy. She wept at the commencement of it, then 
manifested great joy ; with her arms in the form of a 
cross she recited the Act of Love, then the Litany of 
the Blessed Virgin, after which she came out of her 



Apparitions of Soulleret. 123 

ecstasy, which had lasted about twenty minutes. 
Josephine spoke but little during this ecstasy; they 
heard her thank the most holy Virgin with effusion. 
Interrogated by those who were near her why she had 
had such a great fright before the apparition, she 
replied : ' Because the devil was standing at the foot 
of my bed, and wanted to kill me with a pitch-fork he 
held in his hand.' Let those who deny these appari- 
tions of Satan read the Holy Scriptures and see how 
the devil tempted Our Lord after His forty-days' fast in 
the desert, how he transported Him to the pinnacle of 
the temple, then to a high mountain. 

" Since this apparition of May 31st Josephine has had 
no others. We were at her house reciting with her, her 
family and some others who joined us in her room, the 
habitual prayers ; this was on Saturday, the 17th, feast 
of the Stigmata of St. Francis, also on the third Sunday, 
feast of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors, on Monday, the 
19th, anniversary of the apparition of La Salette. The 
most holy Virgin did not appear to Josephine ; proof 
that it is not sufficient to be united in prayer in the 
chamber of the apparitions for the Blessed Virgin to 
appear to her. Sometimes the Blessed Virgin has be- 
come visible to Josephine, even when the prayers had 
not yet been commenced ; once this heavenly Mother 
showed herself to her even when she did not wish her 
to. We said one day to a doctor, to whom we had 
spoken of the apparitions of Boulleret : ' The 2d of 
February last, a great number of persons came from 
all parts of France and were united in the chamber of 
Josephine, praying.' ' Ah, well ! the most holy Virgin 
appeared,' said this doctor to us. ' No,' we replied, ' she 
did not appear.' This is a proof of the truth of the 



124 ifppartttorts of Boulleret. 

apparitions of Boulleret, one proof among thousands ; 
proofs without number can be found, in the extraordi- 
nary acts of Boulleret, for those who wish to seek for 
them, or rather for those who will open their eyes to 
see, their ears to hear, and allow their intelligence to 
seize and comprehend them. Ah, those who come to 
Boulleret incredulous, and remain during the ecstasy, 
weep and sob ; these have no need to search or reason, 
as the truth strikes their intelligence, seizes their 
hearts, and fills all their being with the most profound 
and religious emotion. 

" Persons have asked us if we have assisted at one or 
more apparitions. No, we have never gone to Boul- 
leret the days on which the Blessed Virgin ordinarily 
appeared. And this is what we said, when we were 
there, to Our Lady of Dolors, apropos of apparitions : 
' May your holy will be done/ When Jesus all-amia- 
ble appeared to Josephine, she was seized with fear ; 
in the same way one is seized with a holy fear when in 
the chamber of the apparitions and one speaks, thinks, 
and moves only under the eye of God and the heavenly 
Mother of His Son : and the thoughts of the mind, 
and the sentiments of the heart are marked on the coin 
of this reverential fear which all men must have for 
God, for Jesus, and we, members of the Association, 
for Our Lady of Dolors. 1 

" Many have inquired if Josephine does not know the 
precise epoch of the chastisements. She does not. 
One day we said, before her, to some pilgrims who 
were h°re, that the disasters which were to strike in 

1 As the reader will see later on, we have assisted at the appa- 
rition of May 13th, 1889, at that of May 13th, 1890, and that of 
May 13th, 1891. 



^Ippartttorts of 23oulIcret. 125 

1882, according to the prophecy of the Sister of Char- 
ity of St. Vincent de Paul, Catharine Labouree, had 
been deferred ; Josephine said : * The disasters are 
always deferred.' She does not know the precise epoch 
of the chastisements, but she believes they will take 
place soon. As her strength is returning and the rais- 
ing of blood would not be so abundant as in the past, 
a personal friend wished to conduct her to Lourdes the 
following year; she replied : ' Will it be possible to go 
to Lourdes next year ? ' But whoever casts a glance 
over the newspapers will see without any illusion that 
our unhappy France is running at a great pace, every 
day more rapidly, to an inundation. What is this cata- 
clysm ? A frightful civil war : they will slaughter each 
other even in the houses, said the most holy Virgin at 
La Salette ; and at Boulleret on the 2d of February, 
1885, she said : ' You who desire these events do not 
know what you say nor what you ask, for if you knew 
the manner in which God must strike His people, you 
would prostrate yourself with your face on the earth, 
asking grace and mercy in order to avert His anger. 
Another chastisement will not fail to strike His 
rebellious people.' To the civil war will be joined 
a war between nations. But we will speak of that in 
our Letter of the month of December. 

" Let not these words of the Blessed Virgin, my dear 
brothers and sisters, chill you with fright, but excite 
your zeal to honor the seven wounds of the Heart of 
Mary, and to seek for her some servants, victims whom 
you will save from the chastisements. Our Lord spoke 
thus at Jerusalem. He said to this rebellious, ungrate- 
ful and deicidal city : ' There will not remain of thee a 
stone upon a stone.' Seventy years after the death of 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 



Jesus, Jerusalem was devoured by a civil war, besieged 
by the Romans, taken by assault and reduced to cin- 
ders. Have no vain fears, but be zealous, be zealous, 
be zealous ! It is when the vessel, impelled by a hor- 
rible tempest, is thrown upon the shore and broken in 
pieces that it is necessary to be cool, courageous, and 
energetic, so as to grasp the wreck and save one's life. 
The Heart of Mary, pierced with seven swords, is the 
plank of salvation that this desolate Mother throws to us 
from Boulleret. Ah, brothers and sisters of grace, at- 
tach yourselves to this plank of salvation, to this Heart. 
Mary has said at Boulleret, You will not perish ! Ah, 
what tears when France will be all bathed in blood ! 
we also, brothers and sisters, during these ever- 
lamentable days, will weep bitter tears ; but we will 
remain grouped under the virginal and protecting 
wing of Mary, and she will console and fortify us in 
this terrible weakness. Jesus makes us say it in the 
Act of Love. 

"Oh, yes, be zealous, be zealous, always be zealous 
to honor and have honored the seven wounds of the 
Heart of our disconsolate Mother ! It will be good 
if we all recite, every day, the chaplet of Our Lady 
of the Seven Dolors, and those who cannot, on 
account of their work, will recite the abridged chaplet 
indicated by the Blessed Virgin. The manner of reciting 
it will be found on the fourth page of the Act of Love. 

" You ask us again what we did at Boulleret during 
the twelve days we passed there ? We will tell you 
briefly and with simplicity, with the simplicity of a 
father speaking to his children, or as St. Paul speaks 
pf his apostolic work to the faithful to whom he ad- 
dresses his letters or epistles. 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 127 

u We remained at Boulleret during the day, and about 
five o'clock went to Cosne, a village about two miles 
and three quarters distant. We returned to Boulleret 
in the morning, where we said holy Mass about eight 
o'clock ; we then went to the house of Josephine. At 
midday we took our repast with Josephine and her 
family. At three o'clock all the family gathered in 
the chamber of the apparitions ; the two wax candles 
placed at the foot of the statue were lighted, and we re- 
cited the chaplet and the act of consecration to Our 
Lady of the Seven Dolors, the litany composed by 
Pius VII. to Our Lady of the Seven Dolors and 
the Stabat Mater. Then followed the Act of Lore 
and the chaplet of the five wounds, of which we will 
speak hereafter, and the invocation of St. Michael. 

" Our mail followed us ; everv dav we devoted some 
hours to correspondence. There are, continually, some 
people in Josephine's room, either her mother, her 
children, some persons from the village, or some pil- 
grims who come to see her. On arriving, we found a 
seamstress who puts the winter garments of the family 
in order. We never permitted an opportunity of speak 
ing to Josephine to pass ; and the others often joined 
in the conversation. 

"On one of the first days we said to her : ' Josephine, 
they forbid you to speak of your apparitions and you 
must obey ; but, then, of what can one speak when 
near you ? ' She replied : ' We must speak of God, of 
the Blessed Virgin, and the saints.' Upon starting we 
had taken a New Testament, to read on the journey, in 
order to see how the victim of Boulleret resembles 
the august Victim of Calvary, not with regard to suffer- 
ings, but of words and acts, of the dispositions of 



128 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

the heart and mind. This is what we did while with 
Josephine ; we read to her the Gospels according to St. 
Matthew, St. Mark, and a part of that of St. Luke. 
Never had we felt such emotion, such sweet happiness 
in reading the Holy Scriptures. Josephine was as 
touched as we were. She sometimes asked for ex- 
planations, which we gave her. She was struck with 
the great number of miracles our divine Saviour oper- 
ated. Perhaps, at this moment, she regretted that 
numerous striking miracles were not operated at 
Boulleret, which would determine the belief of those 
who doubted, of those who would not believe that her 
apparitions are divine-supernatural. We say numerous 
miracles, for there are some operated at Boulleret. 
Several cures have taken place, as said above. But 
even if numerous and striking miracles should be per- 
formed, would faith in the apparitions then become 
universal ? Our Lord worked miracles without 
number, many of them very striking ; the Pharisees 
did not believe in Him, and the multitude ceased to 
believe, even the apostles themselves ; Thomas be- 
lieved only when he had put his fingers in the wounds 
of Jesus after His resurrection ; they ceased to believe 
when they placed Him in the hands of His enemies, 
accused, condemned, and put to death on the cross. 
They believed in Our Lord — with some exceptions 
doubtless the faith was general and universal (and 
what faith like that of the martyrs !) — when the divine 
Saviour had arisen and had sent His spirit upon His 
apostles. In the same manner they will believe, every 
one will believe in Boulleret at the time of the triumph. 
And until then the poor victim is nailed on her cross, 
and those who pass, those who speak of her, say that 



2ippartttctt5 of 3ouIlcrct. 129 

it is sickness or the devil which causes all these ex- 
traordinary acts, as the unbelieving Jews said to Jesus : 
You have a devil in you and it is in virtue of the 
power of Beelzebub that you operate all these prod- 
igies. Brothers and sisters, let us thank God for 
the grace He has given us of believing in the appari- 
tions of Boulleret, and for having chosen us to console 
and encourage the victim by our belief and zeal, as 
St. John and the holy women consoled and encouraged 
the Victim of Calvary, by their presence, their tears 
and their faithful love. Oh. what a beautiful mission, 
to console by our belief, our devotion to Our Lady of 
Sorrows, our devotedness and fidelity, the victim 
immolated for the salvation of the Church, of Rome, 
and France. 

" Arrived at the recital of the Transfiguration of Our 
Lord on Mount Thabor, we read slowly, in order to give 
Josephine time to represent to herself this divine 
Saviour as He appeared to her when revealing the 
Act of Love, wearing at that time also vestments 
sparkling like snow. We did the same in reading the 
history of the Passion ; for our divine Saviour ap- 
peared to her in the midst of the sufferings He endured 
on Calvary. 

" During the time we were reading the Holy Scrip- 
tures, in this chamber where Jesus had revealed the 
Act of Love to his prophetess, victim chosen by Our 
Ladv of Dolors for the salvation of France, we made 
a comparison between her and the Victim of Calvary. 
We made this comparison of course without saying 
anything to Josephine. And what has been the result 
of this comparison ? Once more we have found 
nothing in the words or acts of Josephine which could 




130 Apparitions of £oufleret. 

make us think that it is the devil who appears to 
her. 

" For her obedience is such, that she has never 
wished to recite, either aloud or in a low tone, in a 
manner to be heard, the Act of Love. Sometimes, when 
we made the exercises of the month of Our Lady of the 
Seven Dolors, we could not find the printed prayer, 
and we said to her: i Josephine, say the Act cf Love? 
She bowed her head and remained silent. The first 
day she saw us read the invocation to St. Michael, 
which we had written on the blank page at the end of 
the office book ; she thought that we had had it printed, 
so she begged us to give a copy to her family, in order 
diat they would be able to recite it. Such is her obe- 
dience, that she has not even taught this invocation to 
her mother, her children or her husband. 

" We forgot to say that during our preceding visits, 
since the month of April 1885, we had always heard 
Josephine speak in an almost inaudible voice; she 
speaks in a high voice only in her ecstasies, and at the 
epoch of the vomitings it is necessary to place your 
ear to her mouth to catch what she says ; at the time 
of the great vomitings she cannot speak, and has to 
content herself with moving her eyes, to let you know 
she recognizes you, while she lies in bed looking like a 
corpse. During our last visit we heard her speak in 
her ordinary voice, which was quite strong, it having 
been restored since the apparition of May 13th ; it had 
been inaudible from the 1st of January, 1885. Her voice 
was also mute another time, some years ago, and then* 
it Listed thirteen months. 

" Such is the abridged account of our visit to BouL 
leret, in the month of September last, 1887." 



2lppartttons of Bontteret 



Thirty-eighth. — Apparition of the ijth of May, 
iSSS. 

(Extract from the Review of June iSSS.) 

" Honor and make honored the seven wounds of 
the Heart of Mary, such must be the object of our 
zeal. To propagate devotion to Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors, is what the Blessed Virgin recommended on 
the 13th of last May to Josephine of Boulleret : for 
the Mother of Jesus crucihed deigned to appear to 
Josephine on this day. and it is of this we are going 
to write. 

" This is the thirty-fifth time that the Blessed 
Virgin has appeared to the prophetess. Generally, 
the apparitions at Boulleret took place on a feast-day 
of the Blessed Virgin. At the time when this heavenly 
Mother appeared to Josephine on the 15th of May, 
it was asked why she came on that day ? On 
searching, they found that the 13th of May is the an- 
niversary of the birth of Josephine, and this poor vic- 
tim for the salvation of the Church. Rome and France 
suffers so much in her body, her mind, and her heart, 
that the Queen of heaven. Queen of martyrs, graciously 
appears to her on this day, the anniversary of her birth, 
to felickate, console and encourage her. Since May 
13th. 1S83, Our Lady of Dolors has always appeared 
to Josephine on this day. And of what does this ap- 
parition consist ? What were the words pronounced 
by the Blessed Virgin ? Such are the questions which, 
a^erness and avidity, have been asked us. The 
Mother of sorrows has recommended to propagate the 
.ion to her seven dolors without fear. You ask us 
some details. We will repeat what was written to us 



132 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

by those who assisted at the apparitions. Regarding 
the prophetess, she has had no permission, for several 
years, to render an account of her apparitions to any 
one, and she has obeyed ; she is mute when they inter- 
rogate her on this subject. 

" She has written to us since the 13th of May ; she 
did not repeat even one of the words of the most holy 
Virgin. She did not even say the Blessed Virgin had 
appeared to her. This silence and the obedience of 
Josephine, with her humility, is one of the numberless 
proofs of the truth of her divinely supernatural appari- 
tions, and of the extraordinary acts which have taken 
place since March 1872. 

" They heard Josephine say, when she repeated the 
words of Mary desolate, that this heavenly Mother 
recommended the propagation of the devotion to her 
seven sorrows without any fear. That these are the 
same words of our Mother in heaven we cannot say ; 
they are at least the true, exact sense. In regard to 
the proper words of Mary, and the other words she 
pronounced in appearing to Josephine, as well as the 
details of all that she saw in her ecstasy, we will prob- 
ably know them one day, after the triumph of the 
Church and France, which is near. God does not per- 
mit us to know them now. Let us make the sacrifice 
and say to Him from the bottom of our hearts and 
without hesitation : O my God, may Thy holy will be 
done. If we love Our Lady of Dolors — and who among 
us does not love her and compassionate the sorrows of 
her poor heart ? — if we love Our Lady of Dolors as we 
should love her, let us make the sacrifice, not of our 
curiosity, — I say our legitimate curiosity, — but the sac- 
rifice of the consolation which our spirit and heart 



Apparitions of Poulterer. 135 

would experience in learning all these pious details. 
I repeat, if we should know of the apparition only this 
detail : the Blessed Virgin has recommended to propa- 
gate devotion to her seven dolors without any fear, 
that must suffice for us and also encourage us and 
render our zeal always more ardent and unshaken. 

" What then are these details sent us by those 
assisting at the apparition ? It lasted thirty-five min- 
utes. Generally, they are longer ; but it was Sunday ; 
the Blessed Virgin came after midday, about half-past 
one or two o'clock. The apparition being short, the 
faithful who assisted were able to go to church, at its 
termination, and attend Vespers. Several persons 
wrote, asking us if they could go to Boulleret on the 
13th : we replied that they could, but they must start 
from their homes in the evening or earlier, so as not to 
travel on Sunday, a day consecrated to God, a day of 
prayer and repose. 

" Josephine's room was full of people ; those coming 
late could not penetrate the crowd, and were obliged to 
remain on the staircase. 

" With the aid of her husband and eldest daughter, 
Josephine arose at midday. During the last year, we 
must have said to you, although we cannot recall in 
w r hat Letter, her vomitings are less abundant. In cer- 
tain months she raises only corrupt matter ; in short, 
her strength returned sooner than last year, and for 
some weeks she was able to rise, when not vomiting. 
From the month of May to the month of November or 
December, at least, she arose, with the assistance of 
her husband or eldest daughter, about eleven or twelve 
o'clock. On May 13th of the preceding year, Jose- 
phine was lying in bed without strength, almost without 



134 Apparitions of Boullerei 

life ; this year she was out of bed and seated, or half 
reclining, on an extension chair placed at the end of 
her room, before a window at the left. 

" When the room was full of people, they recited the 
chaplet of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors in a low 
voice, individually. Probably it was during the recita- 
tion of the chaplet, for they did not tell us, that the 
Blessed Virgin appeared. On perceiving the most 
holy Virgin, Josephine raised herself and cried : ' Take 
me away, take me away ! ' She seemed anxious to fly 
away, and begged those present to carry her off. Some 
days after a person wrote to us that Josephine asked 
the Blessed Virgin not to appear to her. Until the 
moment when she saw Mary before her, she had been 
annoyed and wished to fly, crying to those surrounding 
her to carry her away. 1 

" Poor victim ! she has been chosen by Mary for 
suffering, in her body, her mind, and her heart, as our 
divine Saviour suffered on the cross ; we were not 
astonished at these cries and complaints when the 
most holy Virgin came to visit her, not to cure her of 
all her ills, but to ask her if she would not consent to 
suffer : for if she did not wish it, her sufferings would 
not avail. On May 13th, 1886, Josephine no longer 
wished that Mary would appear to her ; for, I repeat, 
the apparitions of her heavenly Mother were for her a 
great subject of contradictions and of all kinds of 
pains, both of spirit and heart. Our heavenly Mother 
appearing to her, responded to her thought, saying : 

1 We know since why Josephine cried thus when she saw a 
supernatural cloud preceding and announcing the apparition. 
She wished to fly so that she might obey her confessor, who for- 
bade her to have apparitions. 



Apparitions of BouIIcret. 135 

M ' Thou knowest well that I am all-powerful, and 
that I can appear to thee even when thou dost not wish 
it.' For several days Josephine had prayed that the 
apparition might not take place. 

" It did not astonish us that Josephine, at the com- 
mencement of the apparition, had cried out : ' Take 
me away, take me away ! ' Our divine Saviour, nailed 
on the cross of Calvary, also cried out at one time to 
His Father : ' Why hast Thou forsaken Me ? ' It was the 
unheard-of sufferings experienced by Jesus, which made 
Him address this complaint to His Father. And in 
the garden of Gethsemani this divine Redeemer said : 
' O My Father, if it be possible, remove this chalice from 
Me ; nevertheless, not My will but Thine be done.' 

" This cry of Josephine, expressive of the torments 
of her poor heart, moved the crowd of assistants pro- 
foundly ; they were neither able to take nor retain word 
for word what they heard, so they could only give the 
sense. 

" The Blessed Virgin commenced by saying, the 
prophetess repeating in a high voice the words of the 
Queen of heaven, ' Watch and pray.' These words are 
verbatim : ' Be not egotists, be charitable and pray 
for one another.' ' That which was most beautiful and 
which I wished to retain,' said the person who wrote to 
us, ' was a phrase on the subject of the devotion to Our 
Lady of the Seven Dolors. The most holy Virgin 
said to propagate this devotion and to fear nothing. 
Then, as in the preceding apparition, she deplored the 
bad communions, where Jesus in the Host is forced to 
descend into the unworthy heart of the receiver. The 
Blessed Virgin added that her prayers no longer suf- 
ficed to arrest the arm of her divine Son ; that the 



136 apparitions of 2Soulleret. 



prayers of pious souls, the sufferings of the victims 
whom God has chosen, were no longer adequate to attain 
this end. She said, again, that there were some souls 
who suffered much, but they should not ask themselves 
why God sent them so many trials and so much pain : 
they would learn it later ; that God acted thus in 
His wisdom, and afterwards would recompense these 
souls abundantly in heaven. The holy Virgin spoke 
of the freemasons. Josephine chanted a canticle for 
France ; at the refrain she threw herself on her knees. 
Then she saw something which she regarded attentively. 
They said she assisted at the marching of a procession. 
At times, with an air of astonishment she seemed to 
recognize a person ; then she manifested joy.' 

"This is what was written us, and is all we know of 
the apparition. You see, my dear brothers and sisters, 
it is very little ; but we must, nevertheless, thank God 
that He has permitted these details and these words 
to be made known to us, at the desire of Our Lady of 
the Seven Dolors. Continue to propagate devotion to 
this heavenly Mother by means of the seven wounds 
of her Heart, since she wishes it and recommends it to 
us. Propagate this devotion without any fear. At the 
commencement of the month of May, we wrote thus to 
Josephine : ' Josephine, when the Blessed Virgin ap- 
pears to you on the 13th of this month, will you kindly 
beg of her to obtain for us from her divine Son the light 
that is necessary to direct the Association of the Seven 
Dolors of her holy Heart ? ' These words, " with- 
out any fear" seem to be the response to our request, 
which was inspired by the fear of encountering # on our 
way some insuperable obstacles. My brothers and 
sisters, zelators and zelatrices, continue to propagate 



Apparitions of Boulieret. 137 



the devotion to the seven wounds of the Heart of Mary 
without fear of seeing your zeal paralyzed. The pro- 
tection of the holy Virgin is over us ; have courage and 
confidence, and continue to search for souls and group 
them with us under the banner of the seven dolors. 

" Our Lady of Dolors tells us to pray for one an- 
other. Let us then do so, particularly for those who 
resist our entreaties, who will not allow themselves to 
be touched by our prayers or inflamed by our zeal. 
Let us pray for sinners, for the members of our family, 
for our parishes, the cities and villages we inhabit, so 
that Mary will not fail to extend her protection over 
them and preserve them from all danger on the day of 
the great chastisements. 

" After these exhortations regarding the prayers we 
must say for another, the Blessed Virgin complained 
of unworthy communions. It must be that there are 
many souls who approach the sacrament of the Eucha- 
rist with hearts that are not well prepared. For, if 
there were not, this holy Mother would not renew these 
complaints at Boulleret, as she had already made them 
known at La Salette in 1846. Doubtless, there is not 
among you, one who has not his soul well disposed and 
very pure when he approaches the holy table to receive 
the God of love and purity, so these reproaches are not 
addressed to you ; but, my brothers and sisters, have 
we taken care to work every day for our sanctification, 
in order to make, not only good, but holy communions ? 
Every day we read in the Act of Lo7'e the complaints 
of Jesus, on the subject of persons who often approach 
the sacraments and do not think of ornamenting and 
embellishing their souls with virtues, or I may rather 
say, do not pluck out from them the love of the world 



138 Apparitions of Boulleret. 



and its foolish vanities. If our divine Saviour ad- 
dressed to such souls the reproaches which we are going 
to place under your eyes, it must not astonish you that 
His holy Mother complained at Boulleret of those who 
receive her divine Son with souls soiled by sin. 

" Our divine Saviour makes us say, in the Act of Love : 
' I consecrate to Thee all the strength and faculties of 
my soul. ... I offer Thee also all my tribulations and 
afflictions ... in a spirit of adoration . . . of reparation 
for the outrages and offences Thou receivest on the part 
of Thy children, who, calling themselves pious and de- 
vout, and wounded by the thorn of pride, blind them- 
selves to their numerous faults of selfishness, cupidity, 
unbridled love of pleasure, calumny, slander, rash judg- 
ments and false reports. These souls take no pains to 
correct themselves by making use of the powerful means 
of sacrifice, nor do they place themselves in the way of 
amending their hearts by the practice of charity, humil- 
ity, obedience and submission, so as to prepare and offer 
to their divine Saviour a dwelling-place worthy of Him.. 
These souls expose themselves, in communicating often 
in these dispositions, to an act which wounds, opens, 
bruises, and rends anew the Heart of Jesus in the 
sacred Host.' 

" Such are the reproaches of Jesus. No, it does not 
suffice to approach the holy table with a heart exempt 
from mortal sin ; you must still watch that your soul be 
purified from all its stains, that you avoid with care every 
venial sin and endeavor every day to advance in per- 
fection and the love of God. You should not on account 
of these last reproaches abstain from communion ; it is 
only necessary for you to put your soul and conscience 
in the hands of your confessor, and allow yourself to 



Apparitions of Bonllerei 139 



be conducted by him with the simplicity and confidence 
of a child. The Blessed Virgin complains of unworthy 
communions ; she must complain also, in her heart, of 
lukewarm communions. Is it not her right ? Is she not 
the Mother of Jesus, and has she not the right of 
exacting from us, that we shall receive her divine Son 
in souls pure and well-disposed, and that we make holy 
communions? Ah, my brothers and sisters, through 
love for Jesus, through love for Mary His holy Mother, 
to whom are given the seven wounds of her Heart to 
honor according to her desire, make good and holy 
communions, and, according to the direction of our con- 
fessor, let us often go to the holy table to receive Jesus, 
in order to console Him for the cruelty of those who 
receive Him unworthily. 

" The most holy Virgin, on the 13th of May, said that 
there were some souls who suffered much, and who 
asked why God sent them so many trials ; that they will 
comprehend later the motives of God's action towards 
them, and that they will be recompensed abundantly in 
heaven. You, then, my brothers and sisters, who suffer 
in your body, spirit, or heart, should not complain, and 
above all reproach God for your sufferings and ills. If 
God, who is our Father infinitely good and infinitely just, 
tries us on this earth, Our Lady of Dolors has said that 
we shall comprehend later why He sends us these trials. 
Assuredly, we are not more unhappy than the patriarch 
Job, who lost all his children in one day, and, later, all 
his goods ; at the same time his body was covered 
with ulcers, spreading an odor so infectious that he was 
obliged to leave the city where he lived. Suffering in 
mind and heart in thinking of his children whom he 
had lost, suffering in his body, reduced to stretch him- 



14-6 Apparitions of Boullerei. 



self on a dung-hill, Job was without consolation, in- 
sulted by his wife and friends, And what did he say 
in this state ? * My God, may Thy will be done and 
not mine.' Ah ! my brothers and sisters, these were 
also the words our divine Saviour addressed to His 
Father in the garden of Gethsemani : ' My Father, may 
Thy will be done, not Mine/ Then in our physical 
sufferings, in our troubles of heart and mind, let us say 
always to God : ' O my God, may Thy will be done, 
and not mine.' When we ask a grace from God or 
Our Lady of Dolors, let us ask it always in conformity 
to their will. And when they do not grant what we 
ask, let us say to them always : May your will be 
done, and not mine. In heaven we will know, and it is 
needless to say we will approve, the refusal of God, 
and we will praise Him and thank Him. 

"The most holy Virgin said again that the sufferings 
of the victims chosen by God, the prayers of this im- 
maculate Mother, and the prayers of pious souls no 
longer suffice to appease the anger of her Son. And 
as the sufferings of the victims, in body, spirit and 
heart, however great they be, and as the prayers of pious 
persons, your prayers, dear associates, and the honors 
you pay to the lacerated Heart of Mary, will no longer 
suffice, for the waves of impiety mount, mount, mount 
always ! We told you in our last Letter that impiety 
triumphs in Rome and throughout Italy ; does it not 
triumph in France ? Yes, the wave of impiety mounts, 
mounts always. The angels sent to Sodom stopped at 
the house of Abraham. They consented to hear his 
prayers and supplications to obtain the salvation of the 
culpable cities. The reasons, the prayers, the suppli- 
cations the tears of the holy patriarch, did not suffice, 



Apparitions of Boullcrct. 141 






and the angels who had listened departed, setting out 
for Sodom, where they sent out the only just man whom 
they found, with his wife and two daughters, and the 
justice of God took its course. Again, at the present 
epoch, the most holy Virgin came, forty-two years ago, 
to La Salette, to reproach us for our crimes and impiety, 
and to menace us with the anger of her divine Son. 
Have we listened to her complaints and reproaches 
and taken account of her menaces ? Then God has 
chosen some victims ; these victims by their unspeak- 
able sufferings and pains have arrested the anger of 
God for a time, during the past years ; but now neither 
their sufferings, nor the prayers of Mary, nor those of 
pious souls suffice, because the wave of impiety mounts 
always, and God, in His justice and terrible anger, 
will strike in a manner without parallel culpable France 
and Europe. 

11 My brothers and sisters, do not allow these last 
words to trouble or discourage you. The Blessed Vir- 
gin desires that we will honor the seven wounds of 
her Heart : let us respond to her desire and not allow 
any day to pass without reciting the complete or 
abridged chaplet. The most holy Virgin recommends 
us to propagate the devotion to her seven dolors : let 
us do all that we can to propagate this devotion, and 
be without fear. Our Lady of the Seven Dolors de- 
clared at Boulleret that those who honor the seven 
wounds of her Heart will be preserved from all danger ; 
she will be faithful to her word ; have confidence in 
her, and be without fear. Our divine Saviour makes 
us say in the Act of Love, touching Mary, this Mother 
afflicted with sorrow because of the desire she has of 
being loved by us : ' Ah, may we, by our efforts, 



142 Apparitions of 23ouIlereh 



remain grouped under her virginal and protecting 
wing, so that at the time of the dreadful trial she may 
console and strengthen us in our terrible weakness.' 
Be courageous, my dear brothers and sisters, as we 
will bear all in our heart, particularly in the morning 
when we ascend the holy altar to offer to God, in 
holocaust, His divine Son, Jesus all-amiable : be cou- 
rageous, then, and have confidence. Count on the 
words of Jesus and Mary and be fearless. As God 
has accorded us yet some time, since His holy Mother 
has recommended us to propagate the devotion to her 
dolors, let us honor these seven wounds of the Heart 
of Mary, and propagate this devotion fearlessly, as far 
as we are able, according to her desire." 

Article Thirty-ninth. — Apparition of the 15th of August, 

1888. 

(Extract from the Review or Letter of November 1888, in 
which we wrote of our visit to Josephine during the month of 
August.) 

" We said to you just now that we had started from 
Cette on the 21st of August, in the evening; we 
stopped several hours at a city through which we. were 
travelling, to see a zelatrice and some associates ; the 
following day we arrived at Cosne, and were then near 
Josephine. For Cosne, a large place, and a station of 
the Bourbonnais line built on the borders of the Loire, 
is only two-and-a-half or three miles distant from 
Boulleret. 

" In what condition did we find Josephine ? Her vaca- 
tion from vomiting (an expression which the Blessed 
Virgin employed) had commenced on the 13th of May, 
the day of the apparition. Although Josephine had 



Apparitions of ^rouUcret. 143 



not vomited from the 13th of May until the end of 
September, she did no f cease to suffer more or less, 
according to her own expression, from the sole of her 
foot to the top of her head. When we saw her at the 
end of the month of August, she arose about ten or 
eleven o'clock in the morning, often assisted by her 
husband or eldest daughter, and retired about live or 
six in the evening. As for nourishment, she took very 
little, drinking a small quantity of milk or coffee, or 
eating something which would melt in her mouth. 
What she took for nourishment was totally insufficient 
to support strength and life, and made it impossible to 
explain her great vomitings of blood. We have said 
in other Letters, particularly in that of October 1886, 
that on the days of vomiting she can take nothing but 
a little coffee or milk, or only some drops of water, 
in the evening after the last crisis of vomiting, which 
takes place at the end of the day, and that, during the 
months of January and February, and particularly 
during Lent, when the great vomitings take place, she 
passes several weeks, an entire month and even more, 
taking absolutelv nothing. How does she live ? How 
can she live when she takes nothing or almost nothing, 
when she vomits blood and corruption in great abun- 
dance, and at the same time nourishes her infants, the 
physicians declaring that she had sufficient milk to 
nourish two children ? She lives because the good 
God wills it : is He not our Master and all-powerful ? 
Many of the saints who lived long lives took scarcely 
any nourishment. Holy communion strengthened 
them, as we read in their lives. If God has chosen 
Josephine for a victim and to transmit to us the in- 
structions and warnings of Heaven ; if He replaces in 



144 Apparitions of Boulkret. 



her heart, so that she need take but little nourishment, 
all the blood which she vomits, blood which Our Lady 
of Dolors offers to her divine Son for the salvation and 
triumph of the Church, of Rome and France, and also 
to retard the chastisements as long as possible ; if God 
retains life in her, is He not the Master ? Has He 
not the will and power ? Have the will and power of 
God been bound or destroyed, or have they ceased to 
exist, because impious and lukewarm Christians who 
have little fervor deny them, or, allowing them, impose 
limits on them ? 

" Since the 13th of May Josephine has recovered a 
little strength ; nevertheless, she cannot walk around 
her room without supporting herself by holding the 
wall or furniture, or having the assistance of a chair. 
After she has risen she passes the whole day seated on 
an extension chair given her by a lady friend. She 
prays, recites the chaplets, and knits stockings for her 
family. She often receives visitors, welcoming all who 
come to see her with simplicity, goodness and sweetness, 
responding to all the questions they address to her, ex- 
cept those they ask concerning her apparitions ; for as 
she has been forbidden to speak of them, she obeys. 
The Blessed Virgin recommended her, in her appari- 
tions, to be obedient and to submit to her ecclesiastical 
superiors, and she does. This silence, which we call 
superhuman, annoys visitors who see her for the first 
time, but they are so edified and so much impressed by 
her humility, her goodness, sweetness and touching 
affability, and by that same unbending obedience, that 
instead of reproaching her for being silent, they beg 
her pardon for having insisted so strongly to know that 
which she cannot and must not tell. Josephine was 



^Ippartttous of BouIIerct. 145 

pained more than annoyed in not being able to respond 
to those who interrogated her touching her appari- 
tions. We have seen her, even when pressed with 
questions, remaining silent, and lowering her head 
begin to weep. 

M Many zelators and associates, we may say all those 
who visit us, ask some details of the family of Josephine. 
Her mother, aged seventy years we believe, is yet 
quite active. Her husband, whose description we gave 
on page 28, is of a feeble constitution ; they sought 
for her as a husband a young man who had a trade, so 
that she would not have to work in the country. He 
is always ready without complaint or murmuring to give 
to his wife the care she requires in her condition of 
victim. 

" The children are good and pious, submitting like 
their parents to the will of God. The eldest, Ernestine, 
who is almost sixteen years old, born the 16th of July, 
1872, replaces her mother for all the needs of the house- 
hold and the care of her young sisters. She is admi- 
rable both in activity and devotion ; she suffices for all. 
Marie is nine years old and Vale'rie six. They attend 
the Sisters' school. In a Letter of this year that we 
wrote from Rome, and in which, if we do not err, we 
gave an account of how Josephine had passed Lent, we 
said to you that one day they found her stretched on 
her couch, unconscious, and like one dead, her head 
hanging out of the bed. She was found in this con- 
dition by her two young daughters. They had returned 
from school before midday, and went up to their mother 
to embrace her and receive a kiss. On entering the 
room they saw the floor covered with blood and their 
mother in the condition described above. A crisis had 
o 



146 Apparitions of BouIIeret. 



surprised her. She had leaned over the side of the bed 
to raise the blood and had fainted. At this spectacle 
the poor children began to weep and cry out : * Mamma 
is dead ! Mamma is dead ! ' When the time for their 
repast had come, they went to the table but could not 
eat. Even when they returned to school they were cry- 
ing for their mother. The good religious consoled 
them in their trial, and told them that their mother, 
being often in this condition at this time of year, 
would recover and be restored to her health. 

" This is what we have recounted and repeated to 
the zelators and members of the Association whom we 
visited during our journey ; we have written it to you, 
my dear friends, so that in learning these touching de- 
tails you will be moved and edified, and will pray for 
Josephine. You will ask for her the strength which is 
necessary to carry her cross, heavy as it is, with the 
same resignation and the same courage as our divine 
Saviour carried His on mounting Calvary. We give you 
these details, principally that, touched and edified, you 
will with new fervor honor and have honored the seven 
wounds of the Heart of Mary, so as to obtain the salva- 
tion and triumph of the Church, of Rome and France. 

" Josephine went to Lourdes with the pilgrimage 
of Bourges, the 3d of September. A friend of the 
family, who intended to make the pilgrimage, wishing 
to take her, she consented to go with her husband 
and this family. How was she able to go to Lourdes, 
she who eats little or nothing, and cannot walk about 
her room without taking hold of the wall or furniture ? 
We wrote and begged her to tell us how she had made 
this pilgrimage. She replied that she had been very 
happy to go to Lourdes, but she was suffering and so 



2lppartttons of ^3ouIIeret. 147 

ill, that without the grace of God she would have died 
a hundred times. ' God alone knows what I have 
suffered. I travelled the whole distance without de- 
scending from the train, and without taking even a drop 
of water, from five o'clock on Sunday evening until 
nine o'clock on Monday morning. On arriving at 
Lourdes, I drove to the hotel in a carriage, where I 
was soon put in bed and then became unconscious.' 
She did not say how long she remained in this state. 
The following day, and the day after, she was able to 
go to the grotto, always in a carriage. She wrote us 
nothing of her return, but she must have suffered less, 
for she went to holy communion at Lourdes every day, 
and holy communion, as the Blessed Virgin had told 
her, gave her strength. 

"Josephine had an apparition on the 15th of August, 
in the afternoon, before Vespers. Perhaps we should 
have commenced our Letter with that. The Blessed 
Virgin appeared to her last year, on the 13th and 31st 
of May ; this year, she appeared to her on May 13th, 
while there were a great many persons in her room, and 
on the 15 th of August. We say while there were a 
great many persons in her room, for the Blessed Virgin 
had appeared to Josephine several times, while she was 
alone or with her young children, who were not able to 
tell us anything. The Blessed Virgin, since the nth 
of December, 1875, when the first apparition took place, 
has appeared to Josephine forty times. The most holy 
Virgin, who generally appears on certain feast-days, 
had not appeared to Josephine on the 15th of August 
since the year 1878. 

" They did not expect an apparition. Several persons 
from Cosne, friends of the victim, who never fail to go 



148 2Ippartttotts of BouIIeret. 



to Boulleret on the feast-days of the Blessed Virgin, to 
recite the chaplet of Our Lady of Dolors in the chamber 
of the apparitions before Vespers, were in the room with 
Josephine ; others were downstairs or on the road. 
Those who were above called the others, telling them 
to hasten, so as to recite the chaplet, as the hour 
for Vespers approached, when Josephine, who was 
seated on her long chair conversing with some one, 
placed her hand on the left side of her breast and said : 
* Oh, how my heart pains me ! \ As soon as she 
entered into ecstasy, she arose, and went to the side of 
the chimney. These were the first words she uttered : 
1 My good Mother, I wish much to obey, but how can I 
avoid you ? ' for they did not wish Josephine to have 
apparitions. They said to her : ' Josephine, every time 
they will gather in your chamber and unite in prayer, 
the Blessed Virgin will appear to you. If you wish it, 
you will not have apparitions. ' Josephine, who is so 
humble, submissive and obedient, wished to obey. 
This is the reason, as we said in the Letter in which 
we gave you an account of the apparition of May 13th 
last, when she saw a supernatural cloud form itself in 
her chamber (for since some time the apparitions com- 
mence thus), she cried out, at the same time throwing 
herself on the bosom of her sister-in-law, who was near 
her : ' Take me away, take me away ! ' She wished, so 
as to be obedient, not to have an apparition. But God 
wished it ; the cloud opened and His divine Son accom- 
panied by His immaculate Mother appeared, and Jose- 
phine, attracted against her will, turned herself, little by 
little towards the apparition, for who can resist God ? 
As it was the 15th of August, there were but few per- 
sons in her room ; not expecting an apparition on that 






Apparitions of Boulleret. 149 

day, Josephine had made no effort to go away ; but she, 
so obedient and submissive, could not refrain from say- 
ing to the Blessed Virgin : ' O my good Mother, I 
would indeed obey, but how can I avoid you ? ' 

" The ecstasy lasted half an hour. The most holy 
Virgin spoke to Josephine and then Our Lord. The 
prophetess recited, in her ecstasy, the Act of Love with 
an angelic fervor ; she chanted the canticle : ' Tender 
Mary, Mother dear.' We have interrogated those 
who assisted at this apparition. They replied that 
Our Lord and the most holy Virgin gave some counsels 
to Josephine, that they had recommended to have 
charity toward one another, particularly for our rela- 
tions. They heard this phrase, of which we give the 
sense without the words ; it was Our Lord who spoke, 
Josephine repeating His words : ' I bless the present 
and the absent, whom I decorate with My cross, and who 
please Me in this state.' The expression, ' whom I 
decorate with My cross •,' — an expression so beautiful and 
so true, that we will recall it to you in another Letter, 
explaining and commenting on it — is the very same ex- 
pression that came from the mouth of our divine Master. 

" Our Lord said again, and made her repeat His words 
in a high voice, that He engaged Himself by oath to 
grant the graces which would be asked of Him through 
His Sacred Heart. 

11 During the whole time of the ecstasy, the counte- 
nance of the prophetess had been radiant, expressing 
great joy, and a great feeling of consolation and happi- 
ness, except at one time, when she appeared sad. 
Sometimes when she succumbs under the weight of her 
cross, which at certain times is so heavy, she is dis- 
couraged ; indeed how can she always be resigned ? and 



150 Apparitions of 23oulleret. 

when the Blessed Virgin appears, she reproaches her 
for these moments of despondency. A witness who 
has assisted at a great number of the apparitions, and 
who was near Josephine on this day, told us that her 
ecstatic immobility was never before so constant as at 
this apparition, her insensibility and supernatural con- 
dition being absolute. Nothing succeeded in diverting 
her attention, or producing any change in the fixedness 
of her gaze. 

" After the ecstasy, Josephine seated herself and said : 
' Oh, how beautiful heaven is ! if they only knew how 
beautiful it is, they would never sin. Oh, do not sin, 
heaven is so beautiful ! ' Then those who were there 
said to her : ' Ah, Josephine, you have assisted at the 
feast of the Assumption in heaven.' She replied : ' The- 
most holy Virgin has made me partake of her pains, 
to-day she wished me to partake of her joys.' One 
must conclude, from the words of Josephine, that she 
had assisted at the feast of the Assumption in heaven ; 
that she saw the Blessed Virgin in heaven, seated on 
her throne and receiving the filial caresses of her divine 
Son and the homages of the saints. 

'' At the time of our last visit to Josephine, we spoke 
to her of the delights of heaven ; we no longer recall 
the subject, but we said to her that no human language 
could express in what these delights consist, and we 
cited the words of St. Paul, returned from the third 
heaven where he had been ravished : ' The eye of man 
hath not seen, his ear hath not heard, neither hath it 
entered into his mind to conceive the joys which God 
has reserved for us in heaven.' She turned toward us 
with vivacity and said : ' That is indeed true.' Her 
thought was this : I have seen the delights of heaven, 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 151 

it is impossible for me to give the description or to say 
in what they consist. . . . 

" This is all that we learned touching the ecstasy 
of the 15th of August. Those who were present would 
not dream of questioning Josephine, nor would we. 
If there are any in our dear Confraternity who 
regret the iron silence of Josephine, we beg them 
to say with us : * O my God ! may Thy will be done, 
and not ours.' St. Gertrude, who had apparitions 
like the prophetess of Boulleret, ravished one day 
in ecstasy, repeated, three hundred and sixty-five 
times, these words of our divine Redeemer in the gar- 
den of Gethsemani : ' O my God ! may Thy will be 
done, and not mine ! ' Oh ! the best, the sweetest, the 
easiest and most efficacious remedy against the fever 
of curiosity and impatience are these divine words : 
'O my God ! may Thy will be done, and not mine.' 

" We passed ten days at Boulleret , then we went to 
Paris, stopping at la Brie, in Ardennes, TEst, la Bresse, 
la Haute-Savoie, and Lyons. We returned to Cette on 
the 4th of October, in the evening, the last day of our 
circular note. With all our heart we thank our dear 
zelators, zelatrices, and associates, who received us 
with a charity so simple and good, so touching and 
Christian. May Jesus ail-amiable and Our Lady of the 
Seven Dolors return them a hundred-fold, and shower 
their benedictions upon them and their families ! We 
thank particularly our brother zelator in Haute-Savoie ; 
he made us take some excursions in the Alps, which 
completely restored us from the fatigue caused by our 
mental work and sedentary life. With him and his 
son, we made the ascent of Mount Joly. Arrived at 
the summit, an altitude of about three miles above the 



152 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

sea-level, we chanted the Stabat Mater to honor the 
wounds of the Heart of Mary. And, in chanting this 
hymn, my dear brothers and sisters, we thought of 
you ; and when it was finished we prayed for you. 

"In passing through Paris, we bought a beautiful 
silver heart burnished with gold, which we had prom- 
ised to Our Lady of Dolors, and which we presented 
to her on her feast-day, the third Sunday of September. 
We thank our dear associates who contributed to the 
purchase of this heart : may Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors return them a hundred-fold and shower her 
benedictions on them. We enclosed in this heart the 
following prayer, after which we ordered the opening 
to be soldered. 

" On the heart we had the following inscription en- 
graved : 

To Our Lady of the Seven Dolors 

the 38,000 Associates of the Confraternity of 

Boulleret 

(i6thof September, 1888). 

" This is the prayer : 

" ' O my good and sweet Mother, Our Lady of the 
Seven Dolors, I prostrate myself on my knees at your 
feet with the associates of your confraternity of Boul- 
leret. We promised, O good and gentle Mother, to offer 
you a silver heart on this your feast-day of September, 
if we reached the number of 38,000 associates. This 
figure has been attained and passed : we acquit our- 
selves of our promise with ardor and pleasure. 

" O my Mother of the Seven Dolors, if it were possi- 
ble, and you must surely know it, we would detach 
from our breast our heart of flesh, filled with love for 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 153 

Jesus and for you, and we would give it to you : we 
offer in its place this silver heart we promised you. 
Deign, O my Mother, deign to accept it. 

" ' We offer you this heart, O Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors of Boulleret, to thank you for having inspired so 
great a number of your children to respond to your 
desire to honor the seven wounds of your heart for the 
salvation and triumph of the Church, of Rome and 
France. 

" ' In the second place, we offer you this heart that 
you may obtain for us from your divine Son, Jesus cruci- 
fied, the grace to continue honoring the seven wounds 
of your heart with the same constancy and fidelity, and 
to propagate this devotion with the same solicitude 
and consuming zeal, according to your desire expressed 
anew at Boulleret, at the time of your apparition, on 
the 13th of last May. 

" ' We offer you this heart, O Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors of Boulleret, in order that you will obtain for us 
from your divine Son the grace never to commit a mor- 
tal sin, and to keep us always in your care, that we may 
not commit light faults voluntarily, and the grace to 
make every effort to advance on the road to perfection 
and heaven, without ever looking backward. 

" * In fine, we offer you this heart, O Our Lady of the 
Seven Dolors of Boulleret, that you may obtain for 
us from Jesus the grace to remain grouped under 
your virginal and protecting wing, so that at the time 
of the dreadful trial vou will console and strengthen us 
in our terrible weakness, and at the hour of our death 
receive us in your maternal arms and conduct us to a 
throne of repose, to bless and praise God with you 
and near you in His eternal glory. 






154 Apparitions of 53outterct. 



" ; We promise you, O my sweet and heavenly 
Mother, Our Lady of the Seven Dolors, our queen and 
patroness, to offer you a third heart, when we will have 
attained the number of 70,000. 

" ' The director and associates of the Confraternity of 
Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. Third Sunday of 
September, 1888.' 

" Such is the prayer we placed in the heart promised 
and offered to Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. 

" The number of associates, to-day, October 24th, is 
40,618." 

Article Fortieth. — Apparition of May ijt/i, 1889, at 
which we assisted. 

We will give the complete Letter or Review of the 
month of July, 1889. 

LETTER. 

" To the pious and devout associates of .the Co?ifratemity 
of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors of Boulleret. 

" Cette, Herault, July, 1889. 

" In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of 
the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

" My brothers and sisters of Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors. May the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ be 
with you. May Our Lady of the Seven Dolors cover 
you with her heavenly protection. Ah, may we by 
our efforts remain grouped under the virginal and pro- 
tecting wing of this immaculate Mother, so that at the 
time of the dreadful trial she will console and strength- 
en us in our terrible weakness. St. Michael arch- 
angel, remember us, protect and guard us, everywhere 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 155 

and always, especially at the terrible time of the 
chastisement, that we may not perish. 

" We are late, my brothers and sisters, in resuming 
our correspondence. Not being able to go to Rome this 
year, to pray on the tomb of the holy apostles, to see 
the Sovereign Pontiff and receive his benediction, we 
did not wish to wait until the month of September or 
October to make our annual visit to Josephine at 
Boulleret ; and as the Review of May and June was 
soon to be printed, we asked a ticket at a reduced 
price, and were soon on the road. As in preceding 
years, we did not fail to visit the zelators and zelatrices 
whom we encountered on our route, to thank them for 
their zeal and to encourage them. We celebrated the 
holy sacrifice of the Mass at Paray-le-Monial, at 
Montmartre, at Our Lady of Victories, and at our 
Lady of Fourvieres ; we prayed for you at the memento ; 
and for the deceased members of the Confraternity, at 
the memento of the dead. Starting from Cette on the 
27th of April, we returned on June 13th, in the even- 
ing, the forty-five days of our ticket expiring at mid- 
night. 

" It is always with a great and holy joy and sweet 
consolation that we visit our brothers and sisters as we 
travel through the different cities and villages : our 

o o 

desire was to visit all the members of the Association, 
particularly those of the West, who have such great 
love and devotion for Our Lady of Dolors. But, to 
visit all our associates, it would be necessary to have a 
ticket for three hundred and sixty-five days, and to go 
into Italy and Tunis, then into Malaysia, Japan, and 
Martinique ; after which, we might return by Senegal, 
where one of our sister zelatrices went to pass several 



156 Apparitions of Boulleret. 



years, and where she propagates devotion to our Mother 
of sorrows, a sister whom we recommend to your fer- 
vent prayers. It is for man a cause of lively pain, this 
impossibility of visiting, from where he dwells, those 
whom he loves in Jesus and Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors. May the will of God be done and not ours ! 
We will see them in heaven throughout all eternity, 
without ever separating from them, at the foot of the 
throne of God and of Mary. It is this thought which 
must console us, when we lose the objects of our affec- 
tion, and feel our heart rent with sorrow in our breast 
when saying farewell to them. 

" Yes, my very dear brothers and sisters, we were 
absent from Cette forty-five days. If we have the joy 
of visiting Josephine and a certain number among you, 
it is not, however, without feeling great regret that we 
leave for so long a time our study, where we receive 
our letters every day. Of course, before our departure 
we arranged everything in order so that your letters 
would follow us, and the objects of piety would not be 
delayed ; but we could not write to you, nor respond 
to all the letters we received, as we are in the habit of 
doing. And with what zeal, before our departure, did 
we not recommend the Association to Our Lady of 
Dolors ! 

" Our good and holy Mother, the Mother of Jesus 
crucified, has guarded, during our absence, our dear 
and pious Association. Under her protection, your 
zeal, my dear friends, has not grown cold. The num- 
ber of associates, April 29th, was 48,700 ; to-day, 
June 14th, it is 50,800. Dear brothers and sisters, let 
us thank Our Lady of Dolors for having guarded the 
Association so well. And you, zelators and zelatrices, 



^Ipparttions of 23ouIIeret. 



who during our absence, have sent long lists : may 
Jesus in the Host and His holy Mother shower on you 
all their benedictions. 

" Oh, yes, let us thank Our Lady of Dolors for having 
guarded the Association so well. She has protected it 
during the three years it has been established. With- 
out her heavenly guidance, alas ! the vessel of the As- 
sociation, beaten by the tempest, often violently, would 
have been engulfed by the waves. The bark of Peter, 
on the lake of Genesareth did not perish, not- 
withstanding the violence of the winds ; it will be thus 
with the vessel of the Association : it will be beaten 
by the tempest but will not perish, even at the triumph 
of the Church and France, which will be for us the 
Pacific Ocean. Then, after the triumph, associates 
will come and range themselves under the banner of 
Our Lady of Dolors by hundreds of thousands, by mill- 
ions. While waiting, brothers and sisters, have cour- 
age, coolness and constancy. With a holy avidity, with 
an ardent thirst, let us continue to search for new as- 
sociates, and let us have confidence. The bark of 
Peter will not perish, neither will the bark of Our Lady 
of Sorrows. 

" But why are we so long with these reflections? It 
is so sweet for us to converse with you and to pour out 
our soul on yours ! We are tardy in these reflections, 
and we have to transmit to you the instructions, so 
grave, touching and important, of Jesus and His im- 
maculate Mother, Our Lady of Sorrows, 

" An apparition took place at Boulleret on May 13th 
last. For seven years the Blessed Virgin with her di- 
vine Son has appeared regularly to Josephine on this 
day, anniversary of her birth and feast of the Queen of 



158 2lpparittons of -Soulleret 

martyrs. One hundred, perhaps one hundred and 
twenty, persons were gathered in the chamber of the 
apparitions, a little before one o'clock in the afternoon. 
They were for the most part on their knees, reciting in 
low voice the chaplet of Our Lady of Dolors ; for there 
had not been any prayers said in public, except those 
which were recited during the ecstasy, towards the close. 
It was so warm, they suffered from the heat. Josephine, 
lying in bed, suffered more than the others ; she had 
an excessively long and painful attack of coughing. 
At one time, feeling that she was about to faint, she 
called her husband, Louis, who made her inhale some 
ether; then he raised her a little on the two pillows, 
supported by the bolster, for she herself could not make 
any movement. One long hour thus wore away. 

" A little before two o'clock, Josephine extended her 
right arm and placed her hand in those of Louis, who 
held it for some moments. She said : ' Oh, if they would 
only carry me away from here ! ' Then : i I am all 
on fire ; ' and with her left hand she raised her garment 
from over her heart as if to give herself air. In seeing 
Josephine in an equal state of suffering and prostration, 
we said to ourselves : Poor Josephine ! we pity her 
because of her sufferings, particularly because of the 
presence of persons who fill the room and never cease 
to keep their eyes fixed on her. This thought came to 
us : How can the Blessed Virgin cure her, or at least 
suspend for a time her sufferings and her condition as 
a victim ? But we rejected this thought, for what is 
impossible to God ? For, during the apparition, all the 
sufferings of Josephine ceased, her prostration disap- 
peared, and her strength was like that of a person in 
perfect health. The most holy Virgin delayed her ap- 



Apparitions of Boulicrct. 159 

pjarance ; we almost despaired that she would show 
herself visibly to the prophetess, when Josephine with- 
drew her extended arm, raised herself a little on her 
cushions, joined her long white hands, fixed her large 
eyes on an object placed before her at about six or 
seven feet distant and an equal height from the ground, 
and said : ! Ah ! there is the beautiful cloud again. 
May Thy will be done, O my God ! O my good Mother, 
if you are truly the holy Virgin, cure me ! Grant me 
the grace to visit often those whom I love. What does 
this bouquet composed of all sorts of flowers signify ? ' 
She ceased speaking and seemed to listen, probably, 
to the response of the Blessed Virgin appearing with 
her divine Son, and who must have first addressed 
Josephine. Then the prophetess repeated the follow- 
ing words, in the tone of instruction with which thev 
must have been said to her, and, clause by clause, 
stopping after each sentence as if she dictated, so that 
the persons who were writing had sufficient time to 
write everything, except a few words and a phrase of 
about two lines ; some of the words have changed 
places in some of the sentences : 

" ' Remember that here below you must follow your 
humiliated King, if you wish to enter into the kingdom 
of eternal glory. Seek neither grandeur, riches, honors, 
nor vanities, for he who exalts himself will be humbled. 
Take your cross ; follow the road to Calvary with Our 
Lord Jesus Christ. If you would know the price of the 
cross ! Do not reject it, for the cross is the strongest 
standard against all peril. How many owe their con- 
version and salvation to the cross ! True life and 
salvation are in the tree of the cross. If. in the midst 
of peace and prosperity, God sends you, suddenly, a 



i6o Apparitions of Boulleret. 

humiliation, a loss, an illness, a disgrace, or an afflic- 
tion, throw one suppliant glance on Him who strikes 

you, so that x ; for the grace of carrying the 

cross with Jesus Christ is above all grace. 

" ' Our Lord is on the altar in the attitude of a suppli- 
ant, in order to arrest the divine anger and to obtain 
the pardon of our offences, the number of which accu- 
mulates every day on our heads. He is there with ex- 
tended arms ; He calls you to Him. His heart burns 
with the desire of saving you. He invites His friends 
to expiate with Him for the salvation of your brothers 
and of France. He is a victim, immolated for the 
souls who persecute Him by their iniquities. He in- 
vites you to immolate yourself. Strive, then, to please 
Him, to do His will in all things, by avoiding sin. But to 
do that it is necessary to combat your predominant 
faults and inclinations ; to perform your spiritual and 
temporal duties with a fidelity knowing no bounds, so 
as to expiate the crimes with which the earth is 
steeped ; amend yourselves that you may compensate 
and supply for your brothers : every one needs to do it, 
even the saints. 

" ' Our Lord says to you : " I immolate Myself in per- 
petual sacrifice for your salvation, for your spiritual 
and temporal needs. How much care have I not 
taken thus far toward men who despise My love ! I 
knock tenderly at the door of their rebellious and hard- 
ened hearts, and I ask of them one moment of repent- 
ance, of perfect reconciliation, to forget their negligence 
and indifference, to pardon all their crimes ; but very few 

1 These points indicate that the words of the prophetess were 
not written. 



Apparitions of 3ouIlcret. 161 

respond to My appeals or to those of My holy Mother. 
They set at naught our warnings. In place of doing 
penance, they live for vanity, luxury, and pleasure. O 
poor people, thou art to be pitied ! France has fallen 
into such great misery by her pride, vainglory, and un- 
bridled luxury, her pretentious science and her vice of 
impurity, which language cannot express ! France has 
fallen into a mire, and into a condition so vile and cor- 
rupt, that the most contagious vice is germinated in 
the heart of the infant who still remains on the breast 
of its mother. Can one gather good fruit from a mouldy 
tree ? It is necessary at any price to have a new re- 
generation of the human race, for My delights are to be 
with the children of men, but only with those of pure 
and innocent hearts." ' 

" After these words Josephine chanted, in a very 
sweet tone, slowly and without effort, the canticle 
Have pity, my God ! At the refrain she chanted: Save 
Rome and France / After the words, An ungrateful 
people who seem to set at defiance, she stopped, fastening 
her eyes steadfastly on Our Lord. Her eyes were filled 
with tears, during this ecstatic silence. One tear es- 

Icaped from her right eye and ran down her cheek. 
Oh, how beautiful it was to see the countenance of 
Josephine at this moment, beaming with a touching 
beauty which moved our souls ! Several of those assist- 
ing wept, and, hearing their sobs, they strove to restrain 
them, so as not to disturb the silence, in some sort di- 
vine, which reigned in the room. We cannot say how 
long this interruption lasted, perhaps five minutes. 
Josephine then resumed and finished the canticle, after 
which she continued to repeat the words of our divine 
Saviour : 



io2 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

" ' O my children, I love you notwithstanding your 
offences. I call you to Myself. My love pursues you, 
and My heart follows to search for you, even to the bot- 
tom of the abyss.' 

" Here the seeress changed her tone ; it is no longer 
Our Lord Jesus Christ who speaks ; it is she, who de- 
scribes the person of our divine Redeemer, standing 
there before her, having on His right Our Lady of the 
Seven Dolors. ■ Our Lord/ said Josephine, ' is stand- 
ing on the altar. He is clothed in a white robe, with a 
white cord and a mantle. His heart is on His bosom, 
transpierced with wounds ; the blood flows from a large 
wound ; each drop falls into a ciborium and forms a 
Host. He is surrounded by angels, and says to us 
all : a " My heart is so generous and so passionately in 
love for souls, that it cannot retain the flames of its 
ardent charity. It wishes to shed graces in profusion. 
O My children, allow Me to warm you with the 
flames of this treasure which it puts at your disposal. 
Hasten ; come, it says to you, take your place at the 
eucharistic banquet. Come and rejoice at this delicious 
feast. Come and quench your thirst at this inexhaust- 
ible fountain which flows from My Heart. Come and 
satiate yourselves with My adorable flesh. There you 
will find strength, life, and true happiness." 

" After these words, she chanted the following can- 
ticle to the Sacred Heart of Jesus : The love which in- 
flames me, etc., of which the refrain is this : Love 
and glory to the Heart of Jesus — Josephine chanted 
this hymn to the air of the canticle of the Angelical 
Salutation, of which the refrain is Ave, Ave, Ave, 

1 Josephine pronounced the following words in the same tone 

she had used before. 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 163 

Maria. There was a moment of contemplative silence 
after singing the words : Descend, holy Angels, — 
Offer your praises — to the Master of heaven. She 
then sang the following couplet with animation and 
a sweet and holy joy, which was reflected on her coun- 
tenance : O divine Host ! — Omnipresent Saviour, — 
Holy Eucharist — Reign in my heart, — Love and 
glory — to the Heart of Jesus, — Love and glory — to 
the Heart of Jesus. 

"The prophetess after this recited the Act of Love 
revealed by Jesus all-amiable on May 13, 1886. 
After the words:'/ supplicate Thee, let me enter into this 
place of delight, and permit me to draw from this source 
of living and limpid water,' she remained silent a long, 
long time. It was at this moment we believe — for 
there were several moments of silence, sometimes 
very long, — that we offered to Our Lady of Dolors the 
forty-nine thousand associates of the Confraternity, 
seven thousand for each dolor. Although this was 
the first time we assisted at an ecstasy, we remained 
master of ourself, never ceasing to watch Josephine, 
yet after the apparition we were not able to recall the 
precise time of making this offering ; but we believe it 
was at this moment of silence during the Act of Love, 
that we offered you, my brothers and sisters, to Our 
Lady of Dolors, and prayed that she would obtain the 
graces that are necessary for you, particularly that she 
would guard you at the time of the chastisements, 
and conduct you, after your death, to a throne of glory, 
as Jesus makes us say in the revealed prayer. 

" Two days after the apparition, we said to Jose- 
phine : 'Josephine, during the apparition, while there 
was a moment of silence, I offered to Our Lady of the 



164 Apparitions of Boulleret. 



Seven Dolors the forty-nine thousand associates of the 
Confraternity. She turned towards us and said with 
vivacity : ' At what moment ? ' ' It is impossible for 
me to recall it, but perhaps you know, Josephine.' She 
did not reply, and we did not insist. They forbade her 
to .speak of her apparitions and she obeys. Such is 
her obedience. Such is also her humility, her sweet- 
ness, her charity, virtues which are found in a high 
degree in the soul of a true prophetess, an infallible 
mark of the divine-supernatural. 

" The recital of the Act of Love being terminated, 
there was another moment of silence, when Josephine 
repeated these words, which we suppose were those of 
the Blessed Virgin : * Suffer with patience so as to 
appease the divine anger, and avert the sword sus- 
pended over your heads. Let not your voice cease to 
cry to the Heart of Jesus filled with scars. Cry out 
without ceasing : Mercy, O my God ! ' Here they 
did not catch some words which would have filled 
two lines, but they were not important. Then : ' After 
the sorrow, adversity affliction and trial will come 
consolation and triumph, as you will have much to 
suffer and to bewail for the holy Church, your 
Mother.' 

" Soon after these prophetic words, Josephine chanted, 
in her sweet tones, and with piety and love, the canti- 
cle of the Blessed Virgin : 

" ' Tender Mary, Mother dear, 
O true happiness of the heart ! ' 

She sang a couplet which was not in the printed can- 
ticle, in which Mary is asked to intercede for the dying 
and take their souls to heaven. The singing of this 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 165 

couplet moved and touched all those who heard it. 
Eight months ago, Josephine had admitted to her house 
one of her brothers who was sick, and who was now 
near his last hour. Some days before he had received 
the last sacraments with the best dispositions, and only 
waited for death to come and open for him the gates of 
eternity and heaven. He was in bed, on the ground- 
floor of the house, in a room off the shop. The room 
of Josephine and of the apparitions is over the shop. 
The windows were open because of the heat ; the 
chamber door was also open. The crowd, standing on 
the stairs and landing-place, could hear the violent and 
painful coughing of the dying man. Oh, with what 
emotion we listened to Josephine, chanting the couplet 
which spoke of the dying ! In singing it her voice fell, 
she sang slowly and was filled with emotion, as if sor- 
row oppressed her soul. 

" When this canticle was finished there was another 
moment of silence, during which Josephine probably 
heard the particular instructions and counsels which 
the Blessed Virgin gave her in her apparitions ; after- 
wards she said : ' O my good Mother, do not permit it 
. . . but to advance in virtue and solid piety, so as to 
make me worthy of being seated often at the Eucha- 
ristic banquet where we are all so intimately invited.' 

" Josephine then recited the Litany of the Blessed 
Virgin. At the commencement she responded, ' have 
mercy on us ; ' then, ' pray for us ; ' but some of the 
people having responded, ' pray for us,' soon all who 
were present answered until the end. Oh, how great 
was our happiness ! I know not what sweet happiness, 
what calm, holy, and celestial joy inundated and en- 
livened our soul. For we were reciting with Josephine 



i66 ilpparittons of Boullerct. 



the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, not before a statue or 
a picture, but in presence of Mary, our holy and 
gentle Mother of heaven, who was there among us, 
raised above our heads and showing herself visibly to 
Josephine. We neither saw nor heard her, but our 
soul felt her heavenly presence as well as that of Jesus. 
This ineffable impression remains yet; will time ever 
be able to efface it ? When the assistants responded 
1 pray for us,' Josephine continued to pronounce these 
words, but no longer in a high tone. When she said 
the invocation, Morning Star, she raised herself a lit- 
tle ; she had already ceased to support herself on the 
pillows, and leaned forward a little. 

" The recitation of the litany being finished, Jose- 
phine cast her glance from left to right at the end of 
the room, at a height where she contemplated our 
divine Saviour and His disconsolate Mother. What 
picture then unrolled itself under her eyes ? She, alone, 
with Jesus all-amiable and Our Lady of Dolors, knows 
and can tell. Afterwards, she chanted the canticle : 

" ' To thee, heavenly Mother, 
I wish to give my heart. Listen! 
We call all to the faith. 
Mary, give us thy help ! 
Always, always.' 

Josephine chanted only this couplet. We believe she 
did not know this canticle, and that the holy Virgin re- 
vealed it, or rather the words and chant appeared, as 
Jesus had revealed the Act of Love. 

" After that, she recited three times the ordinary 
' Hail Mary,' once the ' Glory be to the 'Father/ etc.; 
three times the invocation : ' Agonizing Heart of Jesus, 
have pity on the dying/ once, ' Sacred Heart of Jesus, 



Apparitions of ^oulleret. 167 



have pity on us ; ' ' Our Father,' etc. This time they 
did not hesitate or wait to respond ; they answered at 
once : ' Holy Mary, Mother of God; etc. They re- 
sponded to the invocations, and particularly to that of 
* Agonizing Heart of Jesus, have pity on the dying/ 
with fervor and emotion. 

" After these invocations, Josephine, who had kept 
her glance fixed a little to the right, at a height* of six 
or seven feet, now looked before her, higher up. What 
did she see ? She remained a long time immovable, 
looking above. Was she following the apparition 
mounting gently to heaven and disappearing insensibly ? 
Josephine now lowered her eyes and head, made a 
great sign of the cross, closed her eyes, and let her 
head fall on the pillow, at the left, toward the wall ; 
the apparition was over. 

" The assistants also made the sign of the cross with 
piety and fervor ; they thanked Jesus and Our Lady of 
the Seven Dolors for having deigned to appear to Jose- 
phine, then, they arose, their hearts and souls filled with 
a sweet and holy emotion and joy : many had their 
eyes filled with tears. 

" We had stood near Josephine during the whole ap- 
parition ; we now moved away in order to leave her in 
peace to make her thanksgiving. But the females of 
her acquaintance did not have this consideration : we 
do not blame them ; one after the other approached 
and kissed her face, others kissed her right hand, which 
was lying on the bed still, others recommended them- 
selves to her and also their relatives. The good and 
gentle Josephine opened her eyes, turned toward these 
persons, and responded to them with a few words or by 
a movement of her head, a pious, sweet smile hovering 



1 68 Apparitions of Bonlleret. 

over her lips. Happy victim ! a thousand times happy, 
although for eighteen years her sufferings have kept 
her poor body nailed to the cross. 

" Such is the exact and faithful recital of the ap- 
parition of the 13th of May, 1889, which lasted nearly 
fifty-five minutes, commencing at five minutes before 
two, and terminating at about ten minutes to three. 
Our fi*st thought was to follow the account of the ap- 
parition with pious reflections, so that you would put 
in practice the solemn instructions of our divine 
Saviour, so grave and touching; but, as these reflections 
would require a great deal of space, we resolved to 
make them the subject-matter of the Letter of the 
month of August next. While waiting, my dear 
associates, read and re-read the words of Jesus all- 
amiable, and follow the holy inspirations that will be 
born in your soul. 

" We had occasion to say above that Josephine had 
received into her house one of her brothers who was 
ill. He had lost his wife a year or two before ; she 
left three daughters, under age. Falling sick in his 
turn, and his eldest daughter being still young, his 
mother, the mother of Josephine, went to pass the day 
at his house in a neighboring village to take care of 
him. She left Boulleret on Monday, and returned on 
Saturday evening. But when October came, and with it 
the cold, and hoar-frost, the pious, gentle mother, 
could not, on account of her great age, walk that dis- 
tance ; so Josephine and her husband resolved to bring 
him to their home. 

" At Boulleret, as long as his strength permitted, he 
went up to his sister's room every morning and passed 
the whole day with her. And the good and gentle 






2lppantions of Soulleret. 169 



Josephine, until she was attacked by her great suffer- 
ings at the end of January, who, when she is up, cannot 
take a step without assistance, took care of her brother, 
prepared his drinks and nourishment, and presented 
them to him with the sweetness, love, and devotion of a 
Daughter of St. Vincent de Paul. 

•• On May 13th poor Celestine was very ill. and his 
cough scarcely ever left him. A lady from Versailles 
having gone in to see him before the apparition, said 
to him : ' You suffer much, do you not ? ' He replied : 
* My sister suffers much more than I. 1 Thus he for- 
got his own sufferings, only to think of his sister's, 
which were greater, it is true. He had received the 
last sacraments some days before, at the same time 
that Josephine made her Easter communion. He died 
the following Friday, at half-past eleven in the morn- 
ing. When his strength diminished more and more, 
when his voice became inaudible and his respi- 
ration always more painful, announcing that he was 
about to render his soul to God. thev lighted a 
blessed candle, and put it in his hand, and then recited 
the prayers of the agonizing. When he no longer had 
strength to hold the candle. Ernestine held it with him. 
Josephine was carried down by her husband some 
moments before. She was placed in a bed in front of 
that of her dying brother ; she saw him pass sweetly, 
and little by little, from time into eternity, and did not 
cease to pray fervently for him. We assisted at the 
death of poor Celestine. and as soon as he had rendered 
his soul to God, we recited the prayers to be said after 
breathing the last sigh, then the De Profiuidis. The 
family sobbed and wept, Josephine, as well as the 
mother and children. I recommend him to your prayers. 



170 2tppartttons of Boulleret. 



" As you see, my brothers and sisters, to the great 
physical sufferings which Josephine endures in her body 
for the salvation of the Church, of Rome and France? 
other pains are added, and then a thousand thousand 
trials, of which history will one day give the details. 
4 For thee there is no happiness on earth,' the most 
holy Virgin announced when she commenced to ap- 
pear to her, and for eighteen years this prediction has 
not ceased to be accomplished one single day. The 
Blessed Virgin announced at the same time that at sev- 
eral periods during her life she would be in her agony. 
She has received the last sacraments on five different 
occasions, the last time on the 24th of March, this year, 
the physician believing she was going to die. Twice 
she received the last sacraments in her father's house 
at Jarrier, and three times at Boulleret, where she now 
lives. 

" The Blessed Virgin announced, also, that besides 
the sufferings she was to endure, and the vomitings of 
blood, which the physicians have never been able to 
explain, and for which they have never been able to 
find a natural cause, she would be subject to other 
maladies, which, at the moment when we least expect 
them, will attack us. As we have remarked in one of 
our Letters, she has had the eczema for two years. In 
February last, she had another very grave, natural 
sickness, for which they were obliged to call the doc- 
tor : a malady whjph disappeared soon and insensibly, 
and left her entirely to much greater sufferings, which 
have their root in the supernatural. Our Lady of the 
Seven Dolors had forewarned her, without fixing the 
time, that she would have to endure very great suf- 
ferings, in which she must submit to the care of physi- 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 171 

cians, great sufferings which would be the last. The 
prophetess will continue to suffer from the sole of her 
foot to the top of her head, as she herself expresses it ; 
but she no longer experiences the great sufferings 
which made the doctors declare that she was going*to 
die, and when they even saw her without respiration, 
pulse, and apparently without life, that she was dead. 
Josephine, being nursed by her eldest daughter, be- 
lieved it to be her duty to apprise this young girl of 
sixteen of this fact, so that her courage would not fail 
nor her strength abandon her. 

" During the spring, the sufferings which she endured 
were so great that she broke into a plaintive, continued 
cry, which could be heard at a great distance. One 
day her husband, seeing a doctor passing, begged him 
to attend Josephine. This doctor, seeing the sick 
woman vomit blood, said to the family, before Jose- 
phine, ' She has an ulcer in the stomach ; if she vomits 
another pint of blood, she will die/ Josephine heard 
this condemnation. Many times in her life the physi- 
cians declared that she could not live in this state, 
that she was dying, or that she was dead. A doctor 
who visited her frequently in the beginning of her 
supernatural illness, said one day, when she seemed to 
be lying dead on her bed : ' I will believe she is dead 
only when her body will emit the odor of a corpse.' 
Death could not touch her ; she had been chosen as a 
victim and it could not claim her in any way. But 
you will ask what happened after the doctor declared 
that she had an ulcer in her stomach, and that if she 
raised another pint of blood she would die. She con- 
tinued to vomit until there were six pints of blood, and 
yet she did not die. 



172 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

" Nevertheless, they called a doctor from a neigh- 
boring village. He had never seen Josephine, and was 
not aware of the extraordinary acts which had passed 
in her for so many years. On learning that she had 
vomited a great quantity of blood, eighteen pints in the 
space of twelve days, and that she had taken no 
nourishment, he said she no longer had a drop of 
blood, and, treating her as an ordinary sick person, he 
prescribed some beef-tea. They made her take it, but 
her stomach soon rejected it. To calm her violent 
sufferings, he ordered anodynes, of which he constantly 
increased the dose, but it produced no effect ; in the 
end, he would not prescribe any remedies, since no 
result could be obtained. One day he brought with 
him a brother doctor to study this astonishing malady 
for which he could find no natural cause ; a physician 
who had attended Josephine before came also on this 
day to Boulleret, bringing with him another doctor. 
These four physicians examined Josephine carefully 
and with great attention : they used the method of 
auscultation in turn, and then declared she had no 
disease. 

" But if she has no disease, why then does she raise 
so much blood, always at seven different times ? Why 
does she not die when she raises so much blood without 
taking any nourishment ? Why, after Good Friday, 
when she seemed to be dead, did she revive and suffer 
with less violence, until the end of the month of 
September, when the crises of vomitings recommenced ? 
The physicians, for eighteen years, cannot find a 
natural cause for this disease. Josephine has been 
chosen by God as a victim for the salvation and triumph 
of the Church and France ; the Blessed Virgin revealed 



2ippartttons of Boullcrct. 173 

it to her in the beginning : this is the true reason of 
her sufferings and vomiting. 

To those who attribute the extraordinary acts that 
take place in her to hysteria, we will say, that during 
the past year, in the month of September, a doctor, 
believing her hysterical, tried twice to put her to 
sleep, but could not succeed, and he declared that she 
was not at all hysterical. The science of to-day, which 
explains the extraordinary phenomena that take place 
in certain men or women outside of the teaching of 
the sacred books and the Catholic Church, attributes 
these phenomena to hysteria. Rome has lately 
condemned a book in which the author attributes to 
hysteria certain extraordinary phenomena which took 
place in the great St. Teresa. 

" At the time of the last apparition, it was this 
science which Our Lord called pretensions. Six or eight 
months ago, a journal published an article concerning 
Josephine, in which the editor called her an exploiteuse, 
that is, one who endeavors to pose as a remarkable 
person. This article was read to Josephine ; she 
contented herself by replying to this calumny : ■■ They 
will soon see.' The chastisements, particularly the 
final one, after which the human race will be regener- 
ated, will open the eyes of those who will not see and 
of those who do not see the divine-supernatural in the 
acts of Boulleret. As for us, my brothers and sisters, 
let us thank God for our faith in the apparitions 
of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors ; and, responding 
to the desire of our desolate Mother, let us every day 
honor the seven w r ounds of her heart for the salvation 
and triumph of the Church, of Rome and France and 
to propagate this devotion near and far. 



174 2(ppartttotts of Boulleret. 



" There are, to-day, 27th of June, 51,151 associates 
enrolled under the banner of Our Lady of Dolors, after 
only three years. Be zealous, be zealous, so that in 
two years more there will be 100,000. 

" We raise our eyes and hands toward heaven in sup- 
plication, and we pray Jesus and Our Lady of Dolors to 
bless us all, in the name of the Father, and of the Son 
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." 

Article Forty-first. — Conclusion to the First Edition of 
One Thousand Copies. 

After having read the preceding, particularly the 
words of Our Lady of Dolors ; after having heard her 
supplications and seen her tears, who would not 
eagerly respond to her desire of honoring the seven 
wounds of her Heart for the salvation and triumph of the 
Church, Rome and France ? Who would not wish to 
propagate near and far this pious,- sweet, and tender 
devotion ? 

To those who say to us, " But the apparitions of 
Boulleret are not yet approved, and we wish to wait," 
we will not answer, " Well, wait." Our love for Our Lady 
of Dolors, for the Church and France, our charity for 
our brothers, who will be preserved from all danger if 
they perform the work of Boulleret, will not permit us 
to reply so brusquely. We will reply with charity and 
sweetness. 

We will recall to their minds, first, the words of the 
Vicar-General of Bourges to Josephine : " // is indeed 
the most holy Virgin who appears to you." 

Then we will say to them : When our divine 
Redeemer ascended Calvary to be crucified, when 
He died on the cross, He was not absolutely alone, 



vlpparttions of Boulleret. 1 75 

neither was His poor Mother, who accompanied Him. 
They had near them Mary Magdalene and the 
other holy women, St. John, the beloved disciple, 
Joseph of Arimathea, who, believing in the divinity 
of Christ, partook in their hearts and spirit of His 
sufferings, His humiliations, and the sorrows of His 
holy Mother. Some faithful disciples accompanied 
Jesus and Mary to Calvary ; but when the Church had 
been recognized as divine by princes and sovereigns, 
then immense crowds precipitated themselves into the 
temples to adore and invoke Jesus, to honor and pray 
to Mary. It will be the same at Boulleret, after the 
triumph of the Church and France. The truth of the 
apparitions, denied now by the greater number, will 
then be recognized by all ; people and kings will go in 
crowds to Boulleret, in greater crowds than are now 
going to Lourdes, to thank, with the greatest sentiments 
of joy and love, Our Lady of the Seven Dolors, and to 
honor the poor victim who has been chosen by God, 
but now denied like Jesus on Calvary, and like Him 
despised and abandoned. 

While awaiting this triumph of the Church and France, 
which, at the same time, will be the triumph of Boul- 
leret, you who wish to wait, imitate the example of St. 
John and Mary Magdalene, who did not wait for the 
resurrection of Jesus to believe in Him, but followed 
Him to Calvary, assisting at His death and consoling 
Mary His Mother. Imitate this example by joining 
us, in order to respond to the desire of Our Lady of 
Dolors, and to honor with us the seven wounds of her 
Heart for the salvation and triumph of Rome, France 
and the Church. 

And once enrolled, let zeal fill and inflame your hearts 



176 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

and cause you to seek, near and far, numbers of new 
associates. More than that, we will bring numbers 
near Mary, and we will console her for the pain that 
the wicked of our day, alas so numerous ! give to her 
Heart. Moreover, she will obtain that the chastise- 
ments will be retarded and shortened, and that the 
triumph of France will be brilliant. 

Men of good heart and will ; women, pious, tender, 
and sensible ; you particularly, who pass your life in 
pain and tears, love and seek those who suffer and weep 
like yourselves ; come, come to weep with Mary. 

We are to-day, October 30th, 1889, responding to the 
desire of Our Lady of Dolors, 56,000. All you who 
read this book get your names inscribed, and seek, near 
and far, for numbers of associates. Be zealous, be 
zealous, so that we will soon be 100,000, honoring 
every day the seven wounds of our immaculate Mother, 
for the salvation and triumph of Rome and the Church, 
and our poor unhappy France; which will be much 
more unhappy when God unchains His just anger 
against her. 

There has been no apparition at Boulleret since May 
13th last. The vomitings returned to Josephine on the 
20th of September ; from that time until to-day she 
raised only matter. 

Article Forty-second. — Apparition of May ijt/i, i8go. 

(Extract from the Letter to the members of the pious and devout 
Association of Our Lady of Seven Dolors, June 1890.) 

" My brothers and sisters of Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors, as we announced in our last Letter, there was 
an apparition at Boulleret on May 13th last. The 
ecstasy of Josephine commenced at ten minutes before 



Apparitions of ^oullerct. 177 



two o'clock in the afternoon, and ended at half-past 
two. There were in the room of the happy ecstatic, on 
the landing-place. and stairs conducting to it, from one 
hundred to about one hundred and twenty persons, the 
greater number standing closely together. The room, 
which we have described before, is not very large. 
About one-half of the pilgrims belonged to the sur- 
rounding towns and villages ; the others had come from 
a distance, from Loire, Paris, Britanny, and Nancy. 
From noon they had commenced to present themselves 
at the entrance of her room, where they waited with a 
sweet and holy emotion, reciting in a low voice the 
chaplet of Our Lady of Dolors, that Jesus all-amiable 
and Our Lady of Dolors would deign to appear to 
Josephine. At one o'clock the room was full, and, to 
obtain admission, a pilgrim who came late placed a 
ladder against the wall and entered by the window. 
Although the room was full of people, they suffered less 
from the heat than last year. It was not so warm, the 
sun being hidden behind the clouds ; the two windows 
were open, and the time of waiting was shorter. While 
we were standing among the pilgrims, we prayed to 
Our Lady of Dolors not to delay in appearing like last 
year, because of the sufferings of the pilgrims ; for last 
year the apparition took place only towards two o'clock, 
and during this long interval we all suffered much from 
the heat, while Josephine's husband was obliged to 
make her inhale ether to prevent her from fainting. 

" Josephine was lying in bed, without strength, a prey 
to her habitual and unheard-of sufferings. From the 
month of January she was unable to rise, and took 
scarcely any nourishment. She had raised some blood 
or matter every day at least seven times, until the 30th 

12 



178 Apparitions of Boulferet. 

of April. She was tried, besides her great sufferings, 
with other ills for which she was obliged to call the 
doctor. But we will speak of the sufferings of the poor 
victim during this winter after we have given an account 
of the apparition of May 13th. 

" At ten minutes after one, Josephine asked to be raised 
a little on the two cushions on w r hich her head and 
the upper part of her body rested. Her husband, who 
was at the extreme end of the room, came to her bed and 
raised her. She wore a white cap, with wide strings 
knotted under her chin, and a white jacket. The 
curtains and coverings of the bed were also white. 
All on and about her breathed an air of great simplic- 
ity and cleanliness. 

" At ten minutes before two the ecstasy and apparition 
commenced. Josephine perceived on her bed some- 
thing white, like a shadow, without form. The ecstatic 
state of Josephine was imperfect, that is, she was not 
completely ravished out of herself, and the pilgrims 
believed that the apparition had not yet taken place, 
while it had already commenced by the appearance 
of this supernatural shadow. In a tone of uneasiness 
she said : ' What is on my bed? What have you put 
on my bed ? Louis, come and take it away ! I do not 
know if I imagine it, but I see something on my bed.' 
She then held her arms before her as if to seize what 
she saw. Those who were at the foot of the bed held 
their hands toward her, and seized hers. The shadow 
then disappeared. Josephine withdrew her arms. She 
commenced again to say: ' There is some one on my 
bed.' Those near her replied : ' Josephine, it is 
weakness which causes you to think so/ Josephine 
continued to speak : ' My heart burns ; I am dying. 






Apparitions of BouIIeret. 179 

Indeed there is some one on the bed. Lord, my heart 
dies. I am an example in the midst of darkness. I 
am lost. This is not an ordinary apparition. St. 
Teresa, pray for us.' Saying these words, she raised 
her eyes above, and her ecstasy became complete. She 
chanted four verses of the canticle of St. Teresa : 
To Suffer or Die. 

" In the first apparitions, the most holy Virgin showed 
herself suddenly to Josephine, and the complete ecstatic 
state soon commenced. For some years, Josephine at 
first saw a cloud ; annoyed in some way by the vision 
of this cloud in place of the Blessed Virgin, she 
became sad and uneasy. This year she saw the cloud 
only as a shadow ; it was this shadow without 
form, or which represented something that she could 
not define, which made her pronounce some incoherent 
words, and caused some of the pilgrims to suppose that 
she was not yet in ecstasy, and that it was weakness 
which made her perceive some person or something on 
the bed. 

" The shadow disappeared when those at the foot of 
the bed seized her hands ; it immediately returned, and, 
little by little, assumed the form of a person, of a woman 
wearing a white mantle, having on her head a crown of 
white roses and holding in her hands a large crucifix, 
which she seemed to show to Josephine. And this 
woman, this virgin of heaven, said to her : — c I am thy 
sister and protectress, St. Teresa.' Then Josephine 
said : — ' St. Teresa, pray for us.' She chanted, in a 
sweet, harmonious voice, full of touching and rav- 
ishing tenderness, four verses of the canticle of St. 
Teresa. 
" After the second verse, Josephine raised her arms and 



180 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

held them like a priest when he recites the Preface and 
Pater during the Mass. After chanting the canticle, 
she joined her hands. She raised herself without any 
assistance ; sadness covered her countenance. She 
pronounced the following sentences : they are not al- 
together complete, as one could not catch all the words, 
Josephine having spoken more rapidly and less strongly 
than in the past year, when she seemed to dictate. 
Some of the phrases are exactly as they were pronounced 
by the prophetess. 

" ' Oh, who could comprehend the immense sorrow of 
the Virgin without sin, of the rent and tortured heart ? 
Let us ask the grace of a sincere contrition for our 
faults. Let us pray the Mother of sorrows to hold us 
constantly at the foot of the cross to receive the balm 
which flows from the wounds of her divine Son/ 
Josephine, with sadness always depicted on her 
countenance, gave the description of the picture she 
had before her eyes : ' She is standing, this Virgin 
without sin, supplicating her Son, the divine Redeemer, 
to intercede for us before God His Father, to beg 
pardon for us, and grant us the strength and grace 
which are necessary for us to pass through the terrible 
chastisements which are suspended over our heads. 
Nothing remains for us but to pray and suffer. A 
great number of victims surround the calvary, but 
they will not prevent the chastisement : the justice of 
God exacts it.' 

" Josephine ceased to speak. After a moment of 
silence, with tears in her eyes and sobs in her voice in 
contemplating the picture which she had before her 
eyes, she chanted a canticle to the air of : ' Mercy, 
my God ! ' 



Apparitions of Boullerct. 181 

" After this canticle, the prophetess, with the same 
great sadness and eyes filled with tears, pronounced 
aloud the following words : ' Ah ! who could tell you 
vvhat passes in these places ! Our Lord is the suppliant 
for the conversion of sinners. A great monument, 
erected on a mountain, is surrounded by enemies ; 
they wish to destroy or tear it down. . . , This woman 
vested in red who revolts against her crucified God. . . . 
This woman was beautiful, but she is now polluted, 
stricken by death ; her heart has come out of her 
breast, and is only held by a thread ; a long dagger has 
pierced it. She cries, Have mercy, Lord !... . Our 
Lord transports Himself to His Calvary on the gates 
of the Church. The Mother of sorrows is there also. 
St. Michael archangel is on a cloud, sword in hand. 
Our Lord looks at this woman and says to her : O 
France, I wish not thy death, but thy conversion and 
salvation. Look at thy Mother, she prays and suppli- 
cates for thee : she to whom thou hast raised so many 
sanctuaries called by her name, which are so dear to 
her. When thou wast the eldest daughter of the 
Church, I granted thee great privileges ; but because 
thou hast sinned, thou art humiliated, struck by folly 
and madness, and thou wilt be vanquished ! Thou 
dost transgress and violate the laws of the Church. O 
France ! unhappy art thou because of thy apostasy, of 
the contempt of the gifts which I have confided to thy 
heart, of thy diffusion of bad political principles, ... 
who authorizes the impious voice to pronounce My 
name with blasphemy. . . . Thou dost dispute the author- 
ity of My Church .... Thou contemnest My young 
followers ; thou deniest My government and My exist- 



182 Apparitions of 23oulleret. 

ence, living in this way without dependence. Thou dost 
violate My holy-days. My abandoned worship is ban- 
ished by law from the schools. Thou allowest to 
penetrate into the heart of the infant an indifference 
for the practice of religion which almost reaches 
atheism and breaks vocations. . . . Thou dost lower 
the dignity of marriage.... Thou dost banish My 
works and My laws. This national infidelity provokes 
the plague which weighs thee down ; yes, the plague 
which weighs thee down.' 

" Our Lord says : ■ I prepare the army which must 
vanquish the spirit of darkness by the truth ; by it the 
Church will be victorious over falsehood. I will 
elevate it anew by pure, simple, and docile souls, whom 
I will direct during the terrible torments of the chastise- 
ments. The day (or the hour) of justice has arrived. 
I will regenerate souls by the fire of tribulation, which 
will be short but terrible. I will let My anger burst 
forth against those who should be the glory and consola- 
tion of the Church and are her ignominy. Everything 
is now overthrown. But who can resist this ruin, if God 
abandons us ? ' 

" We believe that now, as in several preceding ap- 
paritions, Josephine assisted at the great chastise- 
ments, when France and Europe will be under 
the weight of the massacre, expression which was 
used by Our Lady of Dolors during the apparition 
of August 7th, 1881. She continued: ' Legions of 
holy souls are at the feet of our Mother protectress, 
conjuring her, and raising their supplicating hands 
toward her. They cry : " Save us ! save France ! " . . . . 
Our Lord guards all holy souls in His Church. . . .but 
how many succumb ! A lamentable cry of despair was 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 183 

heard all over the earth ! Blood flows in great 
streams . . . ' 

" Silence. We believe this was the moment when we 
saw Josephine lower her head and her eyes on her 
bosom, as she does when the tableau she has just seen 
and described disappears and another succeeds it. 
The prophetess assisted at the chastisements ; she saw 
the civil war, the European war, and the blood flowing* 
in great streams. She heard the cries and the bias- 
phemies ; then this great lamentable cry of despair 
which was heard through all the earth, which will be 
the cry of despair, we believe, which will rise from all 
parts of the earth at the time of the three days' pesti- 
lential darkness, and will be put forth by those who 
will not acquaint themselves of or follow the recom- 
mendations of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors at Boul- 
leret : Provide yourselves with blessed eandles ; the 
prophetess, I say, assisted at the great chastisements 
and at the great final one, with a mortal sadness de- 
picted on her countenance and her eyes filled with 
tears. When she raised her head again and opened 
her eyes, she assisted at the triumph of the Church and 
France, the striking tableau of which caused her joy 
and happiness. She said : 

" ' A great change is operated in this place. I see a 
woman prostrated before the throne of the Lamb with- 
out sin and His immaculate Mother. She is clothed 
in white with a blue mantle dotted with stars andyfc//r 
de lis. She has a crown of diamonds on her head, and 
holds two banners in her hand ; on one the Sacred 
Heart is painted, on the other, a crown. This person 
asks of God and the Mother of divine mercy to restore 
her title of eldest daughter of the Church. " Remember, 



184 Sipparittons of Soulleret. 

O Virgin, that thou art my Mother and I am thy child." 
Our Lord made some promises to this woman ; He said 
to her : " If thou returnest to thy God who calls thee, I 
will save thee and withdraw thee from the abyss. I 
will give back the simple faith of thy fathers, purity of 
heart, the sanctity and dignity of marriage. I will 
restore concord in families and at the side of the 
domestic hearth. I will return to thee zeal for good 
works, the renewal of the apostolic spirit, Christian 
education, the love of justice of the beautiful reign of 
St. Louis. Thy Mother protectress will give thee the 
virtues proper to a Christian and patriotic heart. Thou 
w r ilt have the strength of vanquishing and combating 
for the Church of Jesus Christ, for His vicar, and for 
the cause of the oppressed. The chastisements will be 
terrible, but the Church will triumph. " ' 

" Another tableau probably presented itself to the eyes 
of the prophetess, as the following words seem to indi- 
cate, which she pronounced in ecstasy, the same 
as the preceding : l A legion of holy priests, pontiffs 
and ecclesiastics presented themselves before the 
throne of God, begging of Him grace and mercy. 
Blood flowed in great streams from the side of Our 
Lord. The sacraments are received with piety and 
fervor. The faithful are before the monument of the 
Sacred Heart and at the feet of Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors. She says to us (consequently it is Our Lady 
of Dolors who now speaks) : " I bless the members of 
the Association, who have responded to the desire of 
my heart, although the work be incomplete through the 
obstacles opposed by its persecutors. I bless those 
who are of it, and those who are but part of it, and 
those also who are prevented from taking part in it. 



Apparitions of 23oulleret. 185 



This work grows and will continue to grow and pro- 
duce fruits of holiness and consolation to the afflicted 
Heart of Jesus. I will shower my benedictions on the 
associates who will recite every day, at least seven 
times, the Hail Mary of Our Lady of Compassion. I 
will obtain for them the graces which are necessary for 
them.'" 

"Josephine then spoke of trials and crosses, which 
she called benefits, expression which was not taken by 
those who wrote : ' I chastise those whom I love : I try 
those who are my privileged children. Those whom I 
loved with the cross and with humiliations are my 
friends ; these are the liveries with which I was invested 
at the time of the Passion of my Son. . . I will give 
them the light which is necessary for them.' 

" After these words the ecstatic recited seven times 
the Hail Mary of Our Lady of Compassion, with the 
invocation : ' Our Lady of the Seven Dolors, save us, 
save France,' after each Hail Mary. The assistants 
recited the Hail Mary and the invocation with Josephine, 
starting at ' Holy Mary, Mother of Jesus crucified,' and 
' Pray for us.' Among the pilgrims, some said : ■ Pray 
for us, save us, save France ; ' others : ' Pray for us, 
save the Church, Rome and France.' 

" Josephine, still in ecstasy, repeated this counsel or 
rather this warning, concerning persons who receive 
from Loigny, in the diocese of Chartres, some letters in 
which they claim that the Blessed Virgin called them 
in this village. In the Review of March 1889 we spoke 
of the apparitions of Loigny condemned by the bishop 
of Chartres and by Rome ; we enjoin the members of 
the Association of Our Lady of Dolors not to believe in 
these apparitions, to reject them with Rome and the 



1 86 2ippanttons of Boulleret. 

Church, and to return the leaflets which they propagate 
and have sent here. Here are the words of Our Lady 
of the Seven Dolors on May 13th last : ' Let not pious 
persons make it a duty or obligation to go to a place 
where they make believe and pretend they are called by 
me.' The members of the Association who have not 
followed our recommendation and have continued to 
believe in the apparitions of Loigny, and who have re- 
ceived a pretended invitation from the most holy Virgin, 
will doubtless observe the objection made by her on 
May 13th last. 

" The happy ecstatic then recited the Act of Love. 
At certain passages she interrupted the recitation to 
contemplate the divine tableau placed before her eyes. 
At these words : ' Inebriate us with the precious liquor of 
the blood of love which flows from it] she saw the blood 
flow from the open side of Jesus all-amiable, and fall 
into a basin, where white doves, symbolizing pious 
souls, came to quench their thirst. 

" The recitation of the Act of Love terminated, Joseph- 
ine chanted the first two verses of the Ave, Maris Stella, 
and after each verse : Laudate, laudate, laudate Mariam. 
Laudate, laudate, latidate Ma?'iam. Useless to say, the 
assistants chanted with the prophetess after she had 
entoned Ave, Maris Stella, Laudate, sumens illud ave. 
And we all chanted this hymn to Mary with a pious 
emotion which swayed us almost with pain. For Jesus 
all-amiable and His immaculate Mother, Our Lady of 
the Seven Dolors, were there present, showing them- 
selves visibly to the happy Josephine, and probably, 
as she saw them in other apparitions, casting their 
eyes on the pious pilgrims. 

" After this hymn, they heard the ecstatic pronounce 



2(pparttions of 23oulleret. 187 



these words : ' Pray, suffer, do penance. Lord, may 
Thy will be done, not mine. O Jesus, be not my judge, 
but my Saviour. Lord, what wilt Thou that I do ? My 
heart is ready, Lord; my heart is ready.' These words 
said, the prophetess looked upward, probably following 
the apparition, which rose and disappeared little by 
little. Then she closed her eyes, leaned back on her 
cushions, and remained motionless. They were not 
aware that the ecstasy was ended ; but it was. Some 
seconds after, Josephine opened her eyes, and, taking her 
handkerchief, wiped her face. As in the past year, the 
women approached ; her relations, friends and acquaint- 
ances embraced her, others kissed her hand. It was 
then half-past two. The pilgrims experienced the 
greatest joy, which filled their hearts and souls. They 
were motionless and silent, moved and recollected, their 
hearts filled with gratitude and divine love in this 
holy place, honored and blessed, now and so often, by 
the visible presence to Josephine of our divine Saviour, 
his holy Mother, Our Lady of Dolors, of St. Michael 
archangel, and, to-day, of the great St. Teresa, who called 
herself the sister and wished to be the protectress of 
the poor victim. 

" We promised to give you some details of the condi- 
tion of the victim .during this winter. She has been a 
victim for the conversion of sinners, the salvation of 
the Church, Rome and France for eighteen years. She 
was seized with unheard-of sufferings eight months 
after her marriage, sufferings so unusual that several 
physicians who applied themselves to the study of her 
case, of which they have never been able to tell 
the nature, gave the following report : ' She has the 
symptoms of all diseases without having any of them/ 



Apparitions of Soulleret. 



She has raised blood for fourteen years in great quan- 
tities, and always by seven times from the rising until 
the setting of the sun, and without taking any or but 
little nourishment, while the doctors declared that 
she had not one drop left. ' You have not one drop 
of blood/ they said to her. ' The blood which you 
vomit forms itself in proportion to the quantity needed 
to be raised.' Then they said to the doctors : How 
can the victim raise so much blood, always by seven 
times, if she has not a drop ? The physicians re- 
mained silent — they could not reply. Several persons 
gathered some of the blood, which they have kept four 
or five years. This blood is liquid, clear, and limpid, 
like the blood of the Cure' d'Ars, which was shown 
to us at Rome, in 1863, by the postulator of the cause 
of the venerable Vianney. 

" Josephine suffers less than in the past year ; never- 
theless, she was at one time in agony, and seemed to 
be on the point of breathing her last sigh. The vomit- 
ings of blood have been very considerable. As she 
has had, this year again, other diseases besides her 
habitual and unnatural sufferings, they were obliged to 
call the doctor who attends her, and whose skill brings 
some alleviation of her malady, but he is not able to 
modify her condition as a victim. The doctor, one 
day seeing her raise a basin full of blood, said : ' It 
is necessary to arrest this vomiting.' He ordered a 
potion to prevent the blood from coming up ; the potion 
was taken, and when the doctor returned, he declared 
that the vomitings were more abundant than before. 

" On our return from Rome and Turin, we arrived at 
Boulleret on May 6th, in the morning ; having cele- 
brated the holy Mass, we went to see the victim. We 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 189 

found her exhausted and unable to move. Her hus- 
band was in the shop, making wooden shoes. He has 
suffered with sickness during the past winter, together 
with his three daughters, aged seventeen, ten, and 
eight years. They are all well again. Josephine's 
mother was also a little indisposed. When she is well, 
she assists Ernestine a little in the care of the house- 
hold, or remains near her daughter, while she contem- 
plates with sad and tearful eyes her great sufferings 
and raising of blood, as Our Lady of Dolors contem- 
plated her Son on Calvary, attached to the cross and shed- 
ding His blood to the last drop for the salvation of the 
w r orld. Her eldest daughter, as we have had occasion to 
say, occupies herself with the housekeeping with the 
greatest devotion and an activity truly wonderful. She 
awakes her sisters, washes them, combs their hair, 
dresses them, and sends them to school. She nursed 
her father and grandmother when they were ill. She 
works beyond her strength ; but God sustains her cour- 
age and her delicate body, and it is astonishing to see 
her bearing up so well. She gives her care principally 
to her mother, and with so much zeal and love that 
Josephine, in speaking of her during our last visit, said : 
1 She nurses me as if she were my mother.' 

" During the day, on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 
victim was able to converse a little with us. She was 
rejoiced to meet us again, after a year of absence. Our 
joy was equally great, and we spoke of her venerable, 
sweet and pious mother, of her husband and her three 
children. But the principal subject of our conversation 
was the sufferings which she had endured this winter, 
and those which she has actually endured for the seven- 
teen years that she has been chosen victim. She suf- 



190 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

fers always, more or less, from the sole of her foot to the 
top of her head, as she has often told us. During her 
respite from the vomitings, which the Blessed Virgin 
has always given her from May 13th until the end of 
September, she suffers a little less. In speaking to us 
of the unheard-of and superhuman sufferings which 
she endures, she took a folded handkerchief that was 
on her bed, and twisting it in her hands she said : ' I 
seem to be twisted thus, and as if all my bones were 
broken.' The words of the poor victim recalled to us 
the prophetic expression of Isaias touching our divine 
Redeemer, the divine Victim of Calvary : ' All My bones 
have been trouble.I : they have broken all My bones.' 

" If we were able to converse with the poor victim 
during the first two days of our visit, it was not so on the 
third or the fourth day. The third day she had several 
attacks, throwing up the little liquid she had taken ; 
these were not the ordinary vomitings, and she contin- 
ually uttered a plaintive cry. On Friday morning she 
lost consciousness. She apprised us, on this day, of a 
detail of her long martyrdom, or rather of her long cru- 
cifixion, of which we were not aware ; it commenced in 
March 1872. On Friday morning, following the day 
on which she continually uttered this plaintive cry, after 
having saluted her, we asked her if she had slept dur- 
ing the night. She replied : ' In consequence of the 
sufferings which I experience, I never sleep.' — ' How, 
Josephine, you never sleep?' — ' No, sir, I never sleep.' 
The continual state of suffering of the poor victim is be- 
yond all expression ; she alone and God, who immo- 
lates her, know and comprehend how much she suffers. 
How terrible the nights must be, the long winter nights, 
when every one around her rests and sleeps (they were 



Apparitions of Bonllcret. 191 



not obliged to sit up with her this winter), and 
nailed on her bed, I should say on her cross, she feels 
her bones bruised and broken. During the months of 
February and March, she sometimes passes twenty-four 
hours and more without respiration, apparently with- 
out life, like a corpse. We have quoted in one of our 
Letters the remark of a physician who had often seen 
her like one dead : ' I will not believe she is dead until 
her body emits the odor of a corpse.' 

" To console and encourage her, when she spoke of 
her great sufferings and said, while twisting her hand- 
kerchief, ' I seem to be twisted thus, and that all my 
bones were broken ! ' we replied : ' Josephine, Our 
Lady of the Seven Dolors has promised you the crown 
of martyrs in heaven : this crown must be very beauti- 
ful, and cannot fail to procure for those who wear it 
a very great happiness.' My dear associates, do not 
cease to pray for the poor victim, for she suffers for 
the conversion of sinners and for the salvation of the 
Church, of Rome and France. AYithout her sufferings 
and those of other victims, many sinners would not 
receive the grace of conversion, and then what 
would become of the Church, of Rome and our poor 
France ! " 

Note. — To-day, July 14th 1890, the number of as- 
sociates is 96,162. 

More than 200,000 copies of the Act of Love have 
been printed in French, English, Italian, and German. 



192 Apparitions of Boullereh 

Article Forty-third. — Pilgrimage of the Victim to Par ay- 
le-Monial in September 18 go. 

" In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the 
Holy Ghost. Amen. 

" My brothers and sisters of Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors, at the commencement of this Letter let us 
prostrate ourselves at the feet of Jesus all-amiable, be- 
fore the salutary wound of His heart, open to poor 
and unhappy sinners, and beg of Him a refuge. Alas ! 
the horizon becomes more and more obscure ; the chas- 
tisements are suspended over our heads, as Josephine 
said to us on May 13th last, striking and knocking such 
or such a country, while waiting for the vengeful hand 
of God to extend itself over all Europe and the whole 
guilty world. Where can we take refuge, so as to have 
greater safety, than in the Sacred Heart of Jesus ? Let 
us then say to Him : We come, O Jesus all-amiable, 
to beg a refuge in Thy heart opened to poor unhappy 
sinners. 1 Let us then turn our eyes on Mary, with 
her heart pierced by seven swords, and say to her : ' O 
my Mother, as we are your children, consecrated to 
you, according to your desire, to partake of your sor- 
rows, keep us grouped under your virginal and protect- 
ing wing, and, at the moment of the dreadful trial, con- 
sole and strengthen us in the terrible weakness.' Do 
not forget to say every day the invocation to St. Michael 
archangel, revealed at Boulleret : ' St. Michael archan- 
gel, remember us, protect and guard us, everywhere 
and always, but especially at the time of the terrible 
chastisement, so that we may not perish.' 

" My brothers and sisters of Our Lady of the Seven 

1 Words of the Act of Love, 



Apparitions of Boullerct. 193 

Dolors, we are here in our study since yesterday even- 
ing, October 18th, and to-day we resume our Letter to 
you. As you know, once or twice a year we are obliged 
to leave our study and our pen to give our brain and 
nerves, enfeebled by fatigue, the repose, or rather the 
only efficacious remedy, which is absolutely necessary 
for them : walks, excursions, journeys, or manual labor. 
For when the brain, in consequence of excessive and 
continuous work, has become totally smooth, like a file 
which after lomi usage has lost its teeth, and at the 
same time the irritation of the nerves is such that one 
can no longer remain master of himself, it becomes 
necessary then to leave pen and books, go out of one's 
study and take long walks or a journey. Thus from 
time to time the workman quits the stone on which he 
labors, to sharpen his dull tool on the grindstone. Such 
will not be our life in heaven. In heaven there will 
be neither work, nor fatigue, nor lassitude, nor pains, 
nor vexation, nor contradictions, nor weariness. In 
heaven, says St. Augustine, we shall see God and we 
shall love Him, we shall love Him and we shall see Him. 
In heaven, during all eternity, we shall contemplate 
God and we shall love Him, we shall love Him and we 
shall see Him, without fatigue or surfeit — what do I 
say ? with an infinite happiness, always increased, which 
will satisfv our eves and our hearts, without ever being 
satiated and without ever ceasing. When we are 
obliged to leave our study, in order to profit by this 
necessary time of rest, we go to Rome or sometimes to 
Boulleret, to visit Josephine and her family, whom God 
and Our Lady of Dolors have confided to us ; and on 
the road we stop at the houses of the zelators and 
zelatrices whom we encounter on our way, to say to 
l 3 



[94 Apparitions of Boulleret. 



them by word of mouth : be zealous, be zealous, be 
zealous, always be zealous ! 

"We went then on a journey to Paray-le-Monial, to 
Boulleret, to Paris, and also la Bresse and Lyons. At 
the time of our visit to the prophetess, on May 13th 
last, we apprised her that the Holy Father, on the occa- 
sion of the second centenary of the death of Blessed 
Margaret Mary, would grant a plenary indulgence to 
those who would go to Paray-le-Monial in the months 
of September and October and pray in the chapel of the 
apparitions, and we asked her if she wished to make 
this pilgrimage so as to gain this indulgence. She re- 
plied that she wished it very much. It was this cir- 
cumstance which caused us, on the occasion of the 
jubilee at Paray-le-Monial, to make a second visit to 
Boulleret this year, as we are in the habit of going 
there but once a year. We thought it was well that 
the victim to whom Jesus all-amiable revealed the Act 
if Love, adoration, consecratioti, offering, and reparation 
towards the Heart of Jesus, loving, suffering, penitent, and 
expiating for the sins of His children, with these words : 
' / desire that thou makest this prayer known and they re- 
cite it every day,' should go and visit the chapel and 
blessed places where Jesus showed Himself visibly to 
Blessed Margaret Mary and requested of her to honor 
His Sacred Heart, which He presented to her, and to 
have it honored far and near. We wished at the same 
time that the prophetess of Boulleret, she who passed 
her life in inexpressible sufferings and in the midst of 
all sorts of trials, in gaining the indulgence of the jubilee, 
would taste the sweet consolations which the pious soul 
experiences in the celebrated sanctuaries of Jesus and 
His holy Mother. And must not the Heart of Jesus 



Apparitions of boulleret. 195 



also experience joy in seeing His humble and pious 
victim of Boulleret prostrated in the chapel and garden 
where He manifested Himself to the Blessed Margaret 
Mary? And again, must He not. in looking down with 
eyes of love on His victim and prophetess, grant her 
the graces necessary for her to fulfil with strength, 
courage, and humility the important and difficult mis- 
sion which Heaven has confided to her ! 

" The shrine containing the relics of the Blessed 
was carried in procession in the garden of the convent 
on the Fridays during the jubilee, the garden where 
our divine Saviour manifested Himself several times 
to Blessed Margaret Mary, and where on this day one 
can visit and pray. We made our arrangements to 
arrive at Paray on the evening or the -evening before a 
procession. Starting from Cette September 19th, in 
the evening, having stopped on the route several 
times to visit some brothers and sisters of the Associa- 
tion, we arrived at Paray on Wednesday morning, the 
23d : the victim, to whom we had written and whom we 
had preceded, started from Boulleret and Cosne this 
same day. arriving at Paray in the afternoon. She was 
accompanied by her eldest daughter, aged about eight- 
een years, and one of her female friends. We met her 
at the train. We were astonished to see her able to stand 
and walk a few steps, I mean some steps without the 
assistance of her daughter. She said : i I have a little 
strength, such as I have not had for six years.' Needless 
to saw it was necessarvto take an omnibus to go to the 
city, a little over half a mile distant. Perhaps some of 
you will say : ' Why did you not take a carriage ? ' We 
had written to Josephine to travel from Cosne to Paray 
in a second-class carriage : she took the third-class, 



196 Apparitions of Boullerct. 



through a spirit of humility and poverty ; for the same 
reason she requested an omnibus, the carriage of the 
poor, sick, and infirm, to carry her from the station to 
the city. 

"As soon as an apartment was found for her and her 
daughter, and her friend and her young daughter, aged 
eleven years, we went to the chapel of the Visitation 
convent, where our divine Saviour manifested Himself 
such a great number of times to the Blessed Margaret 
Mary, as He has shown Himself, with His immaculate 
Mother, to Josephine, and still continues to do so. The 
prophetess was able to pass three days at Paray. From 
her arrival, she herself regulated the employment of the 
time : ' We will pass our time in the chapel.' She 
manifested a desire to visit the eucharistic collection. 
The time of our pilgrimage was passed in the chapel 
or in the Basilica, assisting at the offices. She made 
one visit to the eucharistic museum. The friend who 
accompanied ner discovered at the hospital a little 
rolling carriage for the sick : she borrowed it, and it 
served to carry Josephine from the house where she 
had her room to the chapel of the apparitions, to the 
Basilica, and to the eucharistic museum. As Josephine 
passed through the street, pilgrims stopped to look at 
her pale, thin face, and said : ' Poor woman ! ' others : 
* Poor girl ! ' but we said to ourselves : If you knew 
who she is, you would say : ' Happy victim of Jesus 
all-amiable and Our Lady of the Seven Dolors ! ' 

" Josephine received holy communion at Paray the 
three clays she passed there, Thursday, Friday, and 
Saturday, as her confessor, the cure' of Boulleret, had 
given her permission. 

" She assisted at the procession in the garden of the 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 197 



convent on Friday. Although she walked leaning on 
the arm of her daughter and her friend, she was soon 
obliged to stop and sit down. The severe but neces- 
sary order, to walk in ranks without stopping, had been 
given to the pilgrims. They had pity on her : they 
allowed her to turn aside a: little from the ranks, and 
to seat herself. They regarded her as one ordinarily 
sick or infirm, come to Paray; probably, to obtain a 
cure from the Sacred Heart or Blessed Margaret Alary. 
She seated herself near the well, where the Blessed 
one day had a tooth broken by the crank, which, escap- 
ing from her hand, began to turn with velocity, while 
the pail full of water descended again into the well. 
Josephine then went to visit the chapel built by the 
Blessed and the first dedicated to the Sacred Heart, 
and prayed there for some time. 

" However, the procession will soon finish, and we 
hasten to conduct her to the little grove of hazel-nut 
trees, where Jesus all-amiable showed Himself visibly 
to the pious and holy religious. They have erected, 
under these trees, a life-size statue of the Sacred Heart, 
and, at two steps distant, that of the Blessed on her 
knees and turned toward Jesus. We wished that the 
prophetess of the Heart of Jesus, loving, suffering, peni- 
tent and expiating for the sins of His children^ would 
pray in this blessed place, where it is so sweet to 
pray. But their lordships the Bishops who took part 
in the procession went past, and a priest was 
there to keep the people moving. And he was a 
little provoked, as but few of then? heard him. Many 
of the pilgrims, wishing to stop, went on their knees 
and prayed. We felt it our duty to intercede for the 
prophetess and victim. We said to the priest : ' You 



198 Jtppartttons of Soulleret. 

can see this is a sick person.' He looked at her, was 
touched, and allowed her to kneel and pray. 

" What prayer did the victim offer at this moment ? 
We do not know. She was obliged to thank the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus for the great favors which He and His 
holy Mother, Our Lady of Dolors, have accorded her 
and with which they continue to load her. She was 
obliged to ask the Sacred Heart of Jesus to grant her 
the graces necessary for her to fulfil with humility, 
strength, courage, patience and resignation the mission 
which He and His immaculate Mother have confided 
to her. She was obliged to pray for the conversion of 
sinners, the salvation and triumph of the Church, of 
Rome and our poor France, for such is her mission as 
victim. She suffers and dies everyday, so to speak, 
for this object. It was her duty to offer a prayer to 
Blessed Margaret Mary, to intercede for her in heaven 
near Jesus and His holy Mother. Perhaps, at this 
time, the remembrance of the trials Blessed Margaret 
Mary had to endure came to her mind, and the thought 
of her own, even greater, for she is a prophetess as 
well as a victim, and with what fervor must she not have 
supplicated Blessed Margaret to obtain for her from the 
Sacred Heart the grace to support all her great trials, 
without ever complaining, murmuring, or being discour- 
aged. We say these are the prayers which Josephine 
must have said at this moment, but we do not know. 
Has not her prayer probably been a simple, loving, 
long look cast on the Sacred Heart of Jesus ? The 
masters of the spiritual life speak of this simple loving 
look of the soul at God and at Jesus Christ, habitual to 
those who are already advanced on the road of virtue. 

" The procession in the convent garden took place on 



^Ippatttiorts of Boulleret. 199 

Friday afternoon ; Josephine passed Saturday morning 
at Paray, and then repaired to Boulleret. We would 
have wished her to remain until Monday, so as to cele- 
brate the feast of Seven Dolors with us at Paray. 
But it was impossible for her. You, who in your let- 
ters never cease to ask news of Josephine, will be 
pleased with us for having given these details, to 
satisfy your pious and legitimate curiosity. May this 
recital of the pilgrimage of the prophetess of the Heart 
of Jesus, loving, suffering, penitent and expiating for the 
sins of His children y touch your souls and fill them with 
gratitude and love towards the Sacred Heart of Jesus 
all-amiable, who deigns to manifest Himself with His 
holy Mother, Our Lady of Dolors, to the prophetess, 
and has revealed to her the Act of Love, graying her 
to make it known. Love the Blessed Margaret Mary 
and invoke her every day ; pray to her for Josephine, 
so that she may fulfil her mission with the same faith 
and divine love, the same docility and humility, with 
which she fulfilled her own two centuries ago. 

" Josephine having started, we returned to the chapel. 
The numberless pilgrims who had arrived on the pre- 
ceding days were gone also, so we were able to 
remain in the chapel and pray there tranquilly, for on 
the other days it had been necessary to leave the 
chapel several times in order to make room for the 
pilgrims who were constantly arriving. The following 
day, Sunday, was the feast of Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors : we said holy Mass in the chapel of the Visi- 
tation, and, as we announced, we offered it for the 
members of our Association, for you all. In the after- 
noon we went to the Basilica, to pray before the 
statue of Our Lady of Pity, and to light a candle, in 



200 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

order to render Our Lady of Dolors propitious to the 
.work of Boulleret, of the Association, and to the victim. 

" Such has been the pilgrimage of the prophetess 
and of ourself to Paray-le-Monial, to gain the indul- 
gence granted by the Sovereign Pontiff. This pilgrimage 
was made without accident. The vomitings returned to 
Josephine September 18th ; she had raised nothing on 
the 24th, 25th, 26th, and 27th, the days she had passed 
at Paray ; it is true she went to holy communion 
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and that she is pre- 
served from vomiting the days on which she receives 
communion. Several associates, whom we encountered 
on our way, asked us if she did not have an apparition 
at Paray. She did not. Jesus all-amiable and Our 
Lady of Dolors have not appeared since May 13th, at 
least not publicly, on the feast-days of the Blessed 
Virgin. We say publicly, for, as we wrote, she has ap- 
paritions sometimes when alone in her room. At such 
times Our Lady of Dolors appears to Josephine to 
console her and give her instructions which only con- 
cern herself ; when she comes at a time when there are 
people in the room and makes Josephine repeat aloud 
what she hears, Jesus all-amiable and Our Lady of 
Dolors give her some warnings which are for us all and 
for France and Europe. 

" Although we may have laid down a rule not to go to 
Boulleret more than once a year, still, being very near, 
while at Paray-le-Monial, we went to visit the family of 
Josephine, particularly her venerable mother, aged 
seventy-three years, who had been so seriously ill dur- 
ing this summer that they were obliged to administer 
the last sacraments. What joy have we not experienced 
on seeing the venerable Mother Reverdy recovered and 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 201 

very well. How much we have to thank Our Lady of 
Dolors for having obtained her cure ! It makes one 
happy to see and salute her, and speak of her daugh- 
ter. May Our Lady of Dolors obtain for her many 
long years, principally that she will obtain for her 
from Jesus all-amiable to see, with her privileged 
daughter, the'salvation and triumph of the Church, of 
Rome and our poor France. 

4 * The husband of the victim is now pretty well. Since 
1SS5 he sutlers at times, particularly from the pleurisy 
which he had in the month of May that year, and of 
which he has never been entirely cured. He is at his 
bench all day making wooden shoes, as St. Joseph at 
Xazareth was at his bench every day doing carpenter 
work. Louis Raimbault is assisted at his labors by 
one of his brothers, stronger and more robust than he, 
who digs out the w r ood for the shoes, a part of the 
work which requires much effort. 

" The three children are quite well. The second, 
Marie, is preparing for her first communion, which she 
will make next year, in the month of May or June. 
The third, Valerie, attends, with her younger sister, the 
school of the Sisters at Boulleret. Happy children, who 
were born and nursed by a victim chosen by God for 
the conversion of sinners, the salvation and triumph of 
the Church, of Rome and France. Doubtless, the in- 
describable sufferings of their mother often fills their 
young and tender hearts with bitter pain and cause 
them to shed cruel tears ; but if Our Lady of Dolors 
has promised the victim the crown of martyrs, one 
day they will be in heaven, and, at the side of their 
mother, they will see God and love Him for all eternity. 

" We said before that Josephine has more strength 



202 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

now than for the past six years : she does not know 
to what she must attribute this improvement, for, since 
May 13th, she has passed only two days in a week with- 
out vomiting. The vomitings which she has had during 
the time of her exemption were not the ordinary kind 
which she was obliged to raise seven times a day from 
the rising to the setting of the sun. She raised the 
little nourishment and drink which she took, if one can 
call nourishment a morsel of meat which she sucked 
without being able to swallow it ; and for drink, a 
little coffee or wine diluted with water, which often 
only moistened her lips : nourishment and drink both 
insufficient to support life in her, particularly to ex- 
plain her great vomitings of bile, and, at certain epochs, 
of pure and sometimes clotted blood. Moreover, the day 
she vomits she can take a little nourishment, or rather 
drink, only after the last crisis of vomiting. Some 
years, she passed three months taking absolutely 
nothing, not even a drop of water. During this sum- 
mer and autumn she has had a little more strength ; 
she could walk around her room without holding on a 
chair or leaning on Ernestine's arm, but sometimes her 
strength abandoned her and she sank on the nearest 
chair. On several occasions she suffered greatly, and 
was obliged to keep her bed for many days. We re- 
ceived a letter from her, dated October 23d, in which 
we read this phrase : ' How are you and your family : 
here every one is in the same state as when you were 
with us. Soon after your departure, I took to bed ; 
I suffered severely from the 5th to the 6th; I believed 
I was going to die. I have had more than sixty crises 
of vomiting in a day.' 

" In the preceding years the vomitings returned to 



Apparitions of ^Boulleret. 203 

Josephine at the end of September ; this year, they 
returned on the 18th. She raised bile and matter this 
time. These sufferings, sometimes extreme, then not 
so great, and again permitting her to rise and walk a 
little and to knit, in the intervals of prayer, which she 
never ceased to recite, continued, we think, if we judge 
by the state of the victim during the preceding years, 
until the end of the month of December or the com- 
mencement of January ; then followed the great vomit- 
ings of blood which, continuing until the 13th of May, 
kept her in her bed, or rather on her cross and calvary, 
without strength, and frequently without consciousness, 
suffering in a manner unknown to us ; for us, my 
brothers and sisters ; for the conversion of sinners, the 
salvation and triumph of the Church, of Rome, of our 
poor France, and Europe. Let us pray for her, then, 
that she be always, by her submission, her resignation 
and her humility, a victim of agreeable odor on the 
altar where she is immolated. Let us pray for her, 
since she suffers for us, that by the blood she sheds, 
and the great sufferings she has endured for nearly 
twenty years, she will obtain our salvation. For 
France will be chastised severely : the blood which 
will inundate it will flow in great streams, but she will 
be saved and will triumph, and at the same time Rome 
will be delivered and the Church will shine with greater 
lustre. Yes, let us pray for the victim of Boulleret, and 
by our prayers aid her to carry her cross, as St. John, 
Joseph of Arimathea, and the holy women who accom- 
panied Jesus to Calvary stationed themselves near Him 
when suffering and dying fcr us. Poor victim of Boul- 
leret ! At Paray-le-Monial, as Josephine passed some 
said : ' Poor woman ! ' and others : ' Poor girl ! ' while 



204 Apparitions of BouIIeret. 



they shouted acclamations for Blessed Margaret Mary ! 
Even so they celebrate the virtues, the holy and ex- 
traordinary life and glory of the venerable Anna Maria, 
wife of the domestic Taigi. Let us pray, brothers and 
sisters, in order that the prophetess and victim of 
Boulleret will fulfil her mission until the end* with 
patience, courage and resignation. But is not Boul- 
leret already celebrated ? Pray, pray, brothers and 
sisters, it is for us the time of prayer. Let us group 
ourselves under the banner of Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors, and let us honor, according to her desire, 
the seven wounds of her Heart. Pray, pray, and at the 
same time continue to search for associates, near and 
far. Pray, brothers and sisters, pray and be zealous, 
be zealous, be zealous ! The day of triumph will coma, 
and we shall see it ; we shall assist at this grand and 
beautiful triumph, for we will honor every day the seven 
wounds of the Heart of Mary to respond to her desire, 
and, according to her promise, she will preserve us 
from all danger. Pray, my brothers and sisters, pray; 
recite every day the chaplet of the seven dolors, and 
be zealous, be zealous, always be zealous ! 

"We passed three days at Boulleret; we would 
wish to pass our life in this blessed village ; but our 
life, like the desert of Africa, is of burning sand, where 
the traveller encounters, from time to time, a green and 
umbrageous oasis, where he reposes a moment, only to 
soon confront new fatigues. When shall we be in 
heaven, my dear associates ? Heaven is an immense 
oasis, without limit, which we shall never leave and 
where we shall forever rest, without distaste, weariness, 
or lassitude, and where trials and contradictions will 
never trouble us. St. Paul one day was ravished to the 



Apparitions of Boullcret. 205 

third heaven, and when in his letter to the Corinthians 
he wished to speak to them of the celestial gifts which 
he had seen and which God reserves for us, he did not 
know how to express himself, for human language is 
powerless to depict the eternal recompense of heaven, 
and he expressed himself thus : ' The eye of man hath 
not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the 
heart of man to conceive the gifts which God reserves 
in heaven for those who love Him.' But the proph- 
etess of Boulleret, after the ecstasy of August 15th, 
1888, when she assisted at the feast of the most holy 
Virgin in heaven, what did she say to us ? Her lan- 
guage also could not find expression to tell us what she 
saw in heaven, nor to say in what the gifts consist which 
God reserves in heaven for those who love Him, and 
she cried : ' Oh, how beautiful heaven is ! If they 
only knew how beautiful it is, they would never sin ! 
Oh, do not sin, heaven is so beautiful ! ' 

Article Forty-fourth. — State of the Prophetess and Victim 
During the Month of March 1891. 
(Extract from the Review, April 1891.) 

" We have received some news of the victim of Boul- 
leret. In our last Letter we told you that the vomitings 
of blood of the poor victim were less abundant than in 
the preceding year and her weakness not so great. On 
the 6th of February she wrote us : ' During the last 
days of January I had some vomitings of blood which 
fatigued me very much, but since Sunday (February 1st) 
I have been able to rise a little without much suffer- 
ing.' On March 6th Ernestine wrote us : ' My mother 
has been confined to bed for five days and she cannot 
rise any more. She vomits considerably of blood, but, 



206 Apparitions of Boulleret. 



nevertheless, she is not so feeble as in past years.' 
This improved condition was not maintained. Ernestine 
wrote us, March 13th : ' Mother is very feeble and suf- 
fering.' At the same time the condition of the victim 
is aggravated because of her great vomitings. Louis 
was ill also. At one time they thought he had pleurisy ; 
happily such was not the case. Josephine's mother 
undergoes considerable pain, as is usual with her every 
winter. Sometimes the two young girls are a trifle ill 
also, so that poor Ernestine is the only one to nurse 
them all. We suppose that some of the neighbors and 
friends must assist her, for what could she do, as the 
victim cannot remain alone, being often in a faint on 
account of her vomitings. While in this faint condi- 
tion, if she is seized with a crisis of vomiting, of which 
she has no less than seven a day, one person holds the 
basin and at the same time raises and holds the head 
of the victim. Some of those present, at this spectacle 
of the victim shedding her blood, like Jesus, for the 
conversion of sinners, the salvation and triumph of the 
Church, Rome and France, have told us that the mouth 
of the victim, at this time, is like a fountain, and that 
the blood flows into the vessel like the water of a fount- 
ain into its basin. 

" Ernestine wrote us again on the 17th of March. ' I 
am anxious to write you, in order to let you know the 
position in which we now are.' You will please 
notice, dear associates, the daughter of the victim did 
not add to this word position, the epithet sad or lament- 
able, for the condition of her mother and family is 
habitual to her ; this is what she has had before her 
eyes since she was born, her mother having been chosen 
by God as a victim eight months after her marriage. 



^Ippantions of Soullcrct. 207 

The poor young girl was born, nourished, has grown 
up and now passes her youthful days on this Calvary 
where her immolated mother sheds her blood. 4 My 
father,' continues Ernestine, 'has been confined to bed 
for fifteen days. Mother almost died on Sunday 
(Tassion Sunday) in consequence of a great vomiting 
of blood. For some time we believed her to be really 
dead. The cure' administered the sacrament of Ex- 
treme Unction. The doctor came afterwards ; he said 
she had vomited this blood very fast, and it was for 
that reason she had remained so long unconscious. 
Really, her weakness is extreme : we can no longer 
leave her alone : it is necessary that some one should 
be continually near her. It is while passing the night 
with my mother that I write you this letter. Pray for 
my two dear invalids, and for me also, that God will 
give me the necessary strength to nurse them.' 

" Ernestine wrote anew on the 20th of March. ' My 
mother continues to grow more and more feeble, and 
is nearly all the time unconscious. My father is better, 
but he is far from being cured. . . . Alas ! when will 
God deign to suspend the trial He sends us. Pray for 
us, that He will grant us strength and resignation in 
the midst of so many afflictions. I had hoped that St. 
Joseph would comfort mother a little, on the 19th, his 
feast-day : we have now, the following eve, feast of Our 
Lady of Seven Dolors: these two feasts are now passed, 
and mother is weaker than ever. Pray, pray without 
ceasing, in order to move St. Joseph by our prayers and 
tears.' This is the last letter we received from Ernes- 
tine : it came to-day, March 25th. while we were writing 
these lines. She says in her letter that St. Joseph has 
not allowed himself to be softened, although she prayed 



208 Apparitions of Boullcret. 

to him with tears on the day of his feast. St. Joseph, 
with a heart always so good, did not allow himself to 
be touched, but remained deaf to their prayers and 
tears, as God remained deaf to the prayers of His Son 
in the garden of Gethsemani, to His two reproaches, 
to His complaints on the cross : ' O my God, why hast 
Thou forsaken Me ? ' St. Joseph remained deaf and in- 
sensible, because Josephine has been chosen by God as 
a victim for the salvation of the Church, Rome, France 
and Europe, and she must fulfil her mission, as our 
divine Redeemer fulfilled His and saved the world. 
We have written to Ernestine, to encourage her and as- 
sure her that we do not cease to pray for her mother 
and herself. She, also, has an important and very beau- 
tiful mission to fulfil, that of Mary, of St. John, and the 
holy women on Calvary who surrounded Jesus and par- 
took in their hearts of His sufferings and cruel pains. 

" If we receive a letter from Boulleret in the com- 
mencement of Easter Week, before this rxumber of the 
Review is printed, we will tell you in what manner the 
victim passed Holy Week. After three o'clock in the 
afternoon of Good Friday, her sufferings will decrease, 
at least it was so in the preceding years. Later, in 
the Review of May, we will give you some details of the 
manner in which the victim will have passed Holy 
Week. 

" Oh, yes ! it is indeed the secret of God, the reason 
why He has chosen Josephine, the wife of a sabot- 
maker, as a prophetess and victim ; the reason for 
which He crushes her beneath the weight of such great 
sufferings, and makes her shed such torrents of blood 
for the conversion of sinners, the salvation of the Church 
and Europe. Do not cease to beg of God for this great 



^(ppartttons of 25oullcrct. 209 



victim the strength and resignation which are neces- 
sary for her and for her family, particularly for her 
eldest daughter. 

•• My dear brothers and sisters, whom we love with a 
devotion so great, the end of this Letter will fill your 
hearts with sadness and cause you to shed tears. We 
would wish to tell you only agreeable things ; but Boul- 
leret is a Calvary, where a victim is immolated, and we, 
members of the Association, who have responded to the 
call of this victim, must we not partake in our spirit 
and heart of her great sufferings ? Ah ! let us partake 
of the sufferings and pains of the victim and allow our 
tears to flow ; for the blood she sheds is shed for us, 
for the Church, for Rome, France and the world. 

" May Jesus all-amiable and Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors deign to bless the poor victim, her family, and 
all of us, in the name of the Father, and of the Son 
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

"The number of associates to-day, April 3d, 1891, is 

124,955" 

A rticle Forty-fifth . — Condition of the Victim of Bo idler et 
Duri?ig the Month of April 1891. 

(Extract from the Review of May 1891.) 

" Time, space, and strength fail us to continue this 
Letter, and notwithstanding we do not wish to finish it 
without speaking to you of the victim of Boulleret, as 
we promised in the Review of April. On Good Friday 
there was nothing particular observed in her condition 
as victim. Her state of unheard-of suffering and her 
extreme feebleness remained the same, as also her 
vomitings of blood. These great vomitings continued 
until April 23d inclusively. A personal friend of 
14 



2 io Apparitions of Boulleret. 



Josephine, who happened to be at Boulleret on the 14th, 
wrote us that on Thursday, April 9th, the victim 
vomited five pints of pure blood. After Easter, she 
suffered with a severe pain in her side. Following the 
great raising of blood on Passion Sunday, she remained 
a long time without respiration and seemingly without 
life, and since then, although somewhat revived, she 
has not yet entirely regained her consciousness. In 
short, when any one visits her they find her in bed 
in a dying condition, or even if she gives some signs of 
life, they do not know if she recognizes those who are 
around her. Some days after her great vomiting, the 
physician and other persons who visited her, her hus- 
band and her children who attended her, noticed that 
she could no longer see. And when she recovered 
consciousness, they often found her with her eyes filled 
with tears : those eyes that can no more see her hus- 
band, nor her venerable mother, nor her dear and 
tender children. She was able, nevertheless, to receive 
communion, having performed her Easter duty, in bed, 
on April 14th. 

" The husband of the victim has recovered from his 
illness and returned to work. But Ernestine, who since 
Passion Sunday had nursed her grandmother and her 
father and mother day and night, fell sick ; she was 
obliged to remain in bed nearly eight days. And then, 
who nursed the victim and remained with her ? Little 
Marie, who is going to make her first communion on 
May 28th, and whom we recommend to your prayers. 
The poor young child, aged eleven years, has not been 
able to go to her class for several days, having to re- 
main at home, to nurse, in concert with her father, now 
thoroughly restored, her mother, her grandmother, and 



^Ippartttons of Boulleret. 



her eldest sister, and to have the care as well of her 
younger sister. 

" The person whose words we report said to us in her 
letter : ' How sad and painful it is for us to visit Jo- 
sephine and not to have the satisfaction and content- 
ment that we experienced near her formerly ! In other 
years, at this epoch of her great sufferings, Josephine 
turned her eyes toward us and recognized us ; to-day 
her looks are fixed on nothing, she can no longer see 
any one. At times she is so sad at the loss of her 
sight that the tears fill her eyes and run down her 
cheeks ; then they hear her say in a low voice scarcely in- 
telligible : " I see them no more." Sometimes when we 
ask her if she recognizes us, if she hears our voice, she 
makes a little sign with her head to say yes ; at other 
times she makes no sign, but remains nailed on her 
cross and her Calvary, without consciousness and seem- 
ingly without life, like our divine Redeemer when He 
had breathed His last sigh. ; These are the details 
we have received of the condition of the poor victim. 
Ah ! my dear associates, what a Calvary is Boulleret ! 
and it will soon be twenty years since the poor victim 
was first immolated. And she is immolated and sheds 
her blood for us, for the salvation of the Church, of 
Rome, poor Rome, and our poor dear France ! Pray 
without ceasing, pray day and night, for the victim of 
Boulleret. Beg of God, who holds her fastened on this 
cross which she has wet with her blood for the space of 
twenty years amidst unheard-of sufferings and without 
dying : ask of God for her the grace and strength 
which are necessary to support her great and incompre- 
hensible sufferings." 



212 Apparitions of Boullerct. 

" At the time we returned the first corrected proof 
of this Letter, we received a letter from Ernes- 
tine, dated April 28th. Here is what she wrote to us : 
' Pardon me if I am some days late in writing to you. 
Mother raised blood again on Thursday last, the 23d, 
in great quantities, and since that time her weakness 
has greatly increased. She suffers horribly, and is 
nearly always unconscious. She can no longer see. 
Counting from Passion Sunday, it is six weeks since 
she lost her sight. My grandmother is seriously ill. 
She has the bronchitis ; the doctor cannot answer for 
her life. She received the last sacraments this morn- 
ing, and is now a little better. Marie is sick also and 
confined to bed for some days. My father and I are 
very much fatigued. Valerie is quite well.' 

" Behold, my brothers and sisters, the Calvary of 
Boulleret ! Ah ! pray day and night, without ceasing, 
for the poor victim who endures in her body sufferings 
which God alone, who immolates her, knows. Pray 
for the victim who sheds, for the salvation and triumph 
of the Church, of Rome, France and the world, these 
torrents of blood which God renews again in the heart. 
Pray for her venerable mother, that God may cure 
her; pray for her husband and her dear and tender 
children." 

Article Forty- Sixth, — Condition of the Victim during the 
Months of March and April i8gi. — New Details. — 
Apparition of May ijth, i8qi. 

(Letter to the associates, from the Review of June 1891). 

" In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of 
the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

" My brothers and sisters of Our Lady of the Seven 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 2 13 

Dolors. We date this Letter from Rome, where we are 
going, and where we will finish it. We commenced it 
in la Bresse, where we stopped twenty-four hours to 
visit some associates, and continued it during the re- 
mainder of our journey. Starting from Cette May 
5th, in the evening, we reached Boulleret on the 13th, 
Paris on the 20th, and then proceeded to Rome by the 
north of Italy. We will return to Cette at the end of 
the first week in June, in order to send, no later than 
the second Monday of the month, this Letter, which you 
assuredly await with impatience. 

"There was an apparition on May 13th, at which we 
assisted. We will give you an account of it, after 
having given you some details of the victim and her 
family. We told you in the Review of May that the 
mother of Josephine was seriously ill and had re- 
ceived the last sacraments. We found her in full con- 
valescence. The day following the apparition she was 
up for several hours and was able to see her daughter 
and converse with her. Her husband, Ernestine and 
the two young girls are well. Marie is preparing for 
her first communion. As for the victim, she had not 
recovered her sight on the 19th, the day we left 
Boulleret. As you know, she lost it on Passion Sun- 
day, following her great vomiting of blood. From six 
o'clock until eleven in the morning, she raised on this 
day between five and six pints of blood. The blood 
flowed in waves from her mouth, which was too small 
to emit it in such quantities, as Louis told us. Louis 
was again ill, lying in a iron folding-bed in her room. 
Towards four o'clock in the morning, he wished to take, 
without rising, a bowl of tisane standing on the mantel- 
piece. Not being able to reach it, Josephine, not- 



2i4 Apparitions of Boulleret. 



withstanding her weakness, arose to give it to him ; 
two hours after, at six o'clock, she had a great crisis 
of vomiting. At eight o'clock, the doctor arrived. He 
came to see the husband, for the victim, since the 
commencement of Lent, being in her habitual condi- 
tion, had vomited but little blood until now. The 
doctor found her raising blood. He returned later, at 
eleven o'clock, we believe ; Josephine had at that 
time her last crisis, after which she fell like one dead 
on her couch. The physician declared that she had 
raised all her blood. For more than an hour the 
victim remained without respiration or giving any sign 
of life. They went in haste for the cure, who came and 
gave her Extreme Unction. All said : ' It is finished, 
it is finished ! ' Every one believed her dead, except 
Ernestine, who had seen her several times in this state. 
Valerie threw herself on the bed where her father was 
lying, and wept. Marie, who had gone to bring the 
priest, had remained in the court. She could not go 
up to see her dead mother, and uttered cries of desola- 
tion. At the end of an hour or an hour and a quarter, 
the poor victim commenced to breathe, but until April 
9th, when she again vomited about five pints of blood 
she remained unconscious. As soon as this great 
crisis ended, consciousness returned. But her eyes 
were in the same condition since Passion Sunday, and 
they were not aware she had lost her sight ; it was the 
doctor who told them she could not see. After Pas- 
sion Sunday, and during the fifteen days which followed, 
the victim raised but little blood ; she vomited bile 
and matter mixed with blood. The great crises re- 
turned the second Monday after Easter. They as- 
sured us that she raised from Passion Sunday until 



Apparitions of ^oulleret. 215 



April 23 d over ten quarts of clotted blood, clotted in 
such a manner that they could not say whether it was 
blood or flesh. Besides this, she raised some liquid 
blood and blood mixed with bile and matter. Then, 
from the 10th of February until the 10th of May, 
the victim, besides, had not taken any nourishment, 
even when she did not raise anything- ; so, from the 
month of May until the end of September, she ate but 
little of anything, and even then only such food as 
would melt in her mouth; it is holy communion alone 
which strengthens her body and keeps her alive ; during 
this period her stomach rejected even the drinks they 
wished her to take. It is God alone who retains life 
and strength in the victim and replaces in her heart 
all the blood that she raises for the conversion of 
sinners, the salvation and triumph of the Church, of 
Rome, France and the world. 

" We said that the last crisis took place on April 23d ; 
she will raise nothing more until the end of September ; 
at the present time, she can take some drink and a little 
nourishment ; her strength continues to return little by 
little \ she is able to rise and remain up for several 
hours, from time to time to go to church, leaning on 
the arm of her mother and Ernestine. All you who are 
interested in the poor victim, who love her and pray 
for her, will be happy to learn that. The most holy 
Virgin, in preceding apparitions, forewarned her that 
besides her vomitings and the great and inexplicable 
sufferings which she endures, she will also be subject 
to other maladies with which we are all liable to be at- 
tacked, one day or other, and for which she must call 
the doctor and take the remedies he prescribes. Now 
listen. Josephine ceased to vomit April 24th ; the 



216 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

grippe reigned in the country : she was attacked with 
it on the 28th, and on the 1st of May bronchitis 
declared itself. She was obliged to call the doctor, 
who ordered a blister, then two at a time, and then two 
more, one after another.. The five blisters produced 
their effect and brought out much humor on the skin, 
after which Josephine grew much better ; in place of 
seeing only darkness before her, she commenced to see 
something like yellow light. Ascension day she was 
taken with great sweats, and her blindness became 
complete as before. She had these sweats again on 
May 19th, the day we left there. Such is the condition 
of the victim of Boulleret. After the 13th, a person 
said to her on the subject of the five blisters they had 
put on her : ' How much you must have suffered ! ' 
She replied : ' What are these sufferings beside those 
which I endured from Passion Sunday until the 24th of 
April ? I would have died forty times, if God had not 
sustained me.' On the 1st of May Josephine had 
fainted forty times. Such are the unheard-of sufferings 
of every kind which the immolated victim has endured 
for twenty years on the Calvary of Boulleret. It is true 
that Our Lady of Dolors has promised her the crown 
of martyrs in heaven. Often in our visits to Josephine, 
we recall to her mind this promise of the holy Virgin, 
and add: 'Josephine, you have been ravished into 
heaven in ecstasy several times ; you must know if the 
crown of martyrs is a beautiful one ! ' My dear associ- 
ates, let us pray for the poor victim ; pray without 
ceasing, so that God will give her strength and courage, 
together with resignation, which are necessary for 
her to carry the heavy cross which Heaven has placed 
upon her shoulders. 



2tppartttou5 of Boulleret. 217 

" We will add : Since the 10th of May Josephine took 
at midday and evening one or two teaspoons of broth, 
and from time to time one or two teaspoons of milk ; 
she drank a little syrup with some quinquina, a little 
syrup of tar, and occasionally some wine mixed with 
water, which she retained ; it is hoped that she will be 
able to rise in a few weeks ; but we think not soon 
enough to be able to go to church and be present at 
the first communion of her daughter. Will her sisrht 
return on the 28th, and will she be able to see her dear 
child return from the church and the Holy Table ? And 
if she cannot see her, how will she be able to restrain 
her tears in embracing her ? Poor victim ! 

" Jesus all-amiable and Our Lady of Dolors deigned 
to appear on May 13th to the poor victim, to console 
and encourage her. We have concluded that God 
wished some of the words for our instruction, as she 
pronounced them aloud in her ecstasy : we experienced 
great joy and expressed our gratitude to God. 

" Here is the recital of this apparition, with the circum- 
stances which preceded and those which followed it. 
We arrived at Cosne on the 12th, in the evening. 
Boulleret is more than three miles from Cosne. Some 
friends of Josephine said to us with some emotion, 
1 Josephine is in a state of very great weakness. The 
doctor has recommended them to allow only those who 
are necessary to nurse her to go in her room ; and to- 
morrow Louis and Ernestine have resolved to close the 
door of their house and not allow any one to enter.' 
We replied : c You must pray to Our Lady of Dolors 
and you will see that all will come out well.' The fol- 
lowing morning we went to Boulleret at six o'clock. 
We met some strangers on the road come from afar to 



2i8 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

assist at the apparition, who were sad and disturbed 
because they heard that no one would be allowed to 
enter to-day into Josephine's house and room. Again we 
responded : ' Be calm and silent and pray to Our Lady 
of Dolors. This is the word of command for the day : 
calmness and silence ; make it known to the others who 
come to assist at the apparition. Towards one o'clock, 
come to the house of the victim ; but do not forget : 
be calm and silent.' Arrived at the house, having 
saluted Louis and the other members of the family, we 
said to him, it is not indeed necessary to allow the crowd 
to enter at midday, as in former years, because of the 
suffering which would result to Josephine ; but if the 
apparition takes place, it would not inconvenience her 
to open the door and allow them to enter, particularly 
the strangers who have come from a distance, as, dur- 
ing the ecstasy, Josephine suffers only from the heat, 
her great sufferings being habitually suspended. Louis 
and Ernestine accepted this modification of their objec- 
tion. The strangers remained in the little court, in the 
shop, on the stairs, and in the other rooms ; that of the 
victim was to be opened only if an apparition took place, 
and then only when it had commenced. We say, if 
the apparition took place, for Jesus all-amiable and Our 
Lady of Dolors appeared regularly, since the 13th of 
May, 1883, inclusively, to Josephine, at either one, two 
or half-past two o'clock in the afternoon, but they had 
not made known to her that they would show them- 
selves to her visibly on this day and at this hour. 
After having conversed a little with the victim and her 
family, we went to church. We saluted the cure of 
Boulleret, and celebrated the holy sacrifice of the Mass, 
praying for Josephine and all of you, particularly for 



Apparitions of Bculleret. 219 



those who recommended themselves to our prayers in 
their letters. After holy Mass we returned to the house 
of Josephine. At noon we took our repast with Louis 
and his children. Towards one o'clock, while we were 
conversing with an associate from Rennes. other pil- 
grims be^an to arrive, one after another, calm and silent. 
They stopped in the court, or entered into the room of 
Josephine's mother to ask her for some news, or 
mounted the stairs, where they stood, as well as on the 
landing-place and in the two rooms on the first floor, 
situated at the back of the house. Josephine's room 
was closed. Her husband was there with some relations 
and personal friends of his wife. At about a quarter 
past one, we stopped talking with the pilgrim from 
Rennes, and went up through the crowd to the chamber 
of the apparitions. The door was closed. The objec- 
tion to enter the room was not intended for us. but we 
observed it and remained standing before the closed 
door, waiting patiently for Jesus all-amiable and Our 
Lady of the Seven Dolors to deign to show themselves 
visibly to Josephine. Some of the people were speak- 
ing in an undertone : we invited them to recite with 
devotion like the others the chaplet of the seven dolors 
in a low tone, as we were doing also. 

u We were still waiting when Ernestine, who had 
finished the dishes and put everything in order after 
the repast, came up and knocked at the door, saying 
to her father : ' Papa, I certainly hope thou wilt open 
to me.' Louis came and opened the door, making us 
enter with her. There were twelve of us in the room, 
including Josephine; two persons were still wanting 
to make the required number of fourteen, the double 
of seven. The Blessed Virgin appearing to Josephine 



220 2fppoftttiotts of £#ulleret. 

under the form of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors, the 
number seven is often found in the work of Boulleret. 
Thus the victim always vomits seven times ; her chil- 
dren were born at seven o'clock in the morning or 
evening ; very often it was found there were seven per- 
sons in her room when an apparition took place. 
Would the apparition occur to-day, when fourteen were 
assembled in her chamber ? We could not say. We 
ascertained this fact by often hearing the remark. 
Who are then these two persons, who, notwithstanding 
the objection, are to penetrate into the room before the 
apparition ? 

" Before replying to this question, we wish to make 
known to you the following two circumstances. The 
first, as you will say, is of little importance. Before 
going upstairs, Ernestine had shut all the doors of the 
house. Atone time, Louis, who was sitting beside one 
of the windows, which was open a little, heard some 
noise in the shop ; he looked out and saw that M. 
Lherbe had opened the window and allowed some 
strangers to enter who were delayed on the road. He 
said : * Look at M. Lherbe allowing some strangers to 
enter through the shop window.' And in saying that, 
he went out, a little vexed. M. Lherbe is the owner of 
the house ; he has a good heart, and having perceived 
several pilgrims on the road, he had opened the window 
and made them come in. Louis then returned to the 
chamber. 

"This is the second circumstance : Ernestine heard 
them say that the house was full of people ; believing 
that the crowd would also fill her mother's room, she 
said : ' They must not be allowed to stifle mamma ; if 
God gives me sight and a little strength, so that I may 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 221 

go and see mamma, they must not be allowed to stifle 
her.' They informed her there were but few people in 
her mother's room. Josephine, like many of the saints, 
is of a gay disposition and has some spirit ; sometimes, 
when not entirely crushed by her sufferings, she makes 
some remarks of an innocent and agreeable pleasantry 
and with a sweet manner. She speaks in a tone in 
which there is neither sadness nor chagrin. We said 
to her : ' Josephine, you are not very sad just now.' 
She replied : ' You would not wish to be in my place.' 
And we, thinking of the apparition which was probably 
going to take place, spoke for ourselves and for those 
who were there : ' Indeed, Josephine, we would wish 
to be in your place.' These words were calculated to 
divert the attention of the poor victim from the appari- 
tion we were expecting, and we heard her address to 
God a gentle reproach, resembling that which Jesus, 
our divine Saviour, addressed to His Father when 
hanging on the cross, ' My God, My God, why hast 
Thou abandoned Me ? ' We heard the victim of Boul- 
leret make this complaint to God : * My God, Thou 
wilt not then let me die ! ' Such is the mild reproach, 
such the lamentation that the poor victim addressed to 
God a few moments before the apparition, at the 
thought that Jesus and Our Lady of the Seven Dolors 
are going to give her a little strength and life and pro- 
long her calvary. If she should not die before the 
month of March 1892, it will have been twenty years 
that she has endured in her body unheard-of and in- 
comprehensible sufferings. If, without taking any 
nourishment, she can raise torrents of blood and does 
not die, it is because God does not will it. Such are 
the circumstances we wish to make known to you. 



222 2Xppartttons of Boulleret. 

" In the meantime, Jesus all-amiable and Our Lady 
of Dolors were late in appearing. Last year the appari- 
tion took place at twenty minutes to one ; the preceding 
year at two o'clock. This year, two o'clock had already 
struck, and Josephine had not yet entered into ecstasy. 
The fifty or sixty persons who came from afar, from 
the south and west, from Paris, and two from Lorraine, 
complained much, having to stand on the stairs, the 
landing-place, or in the neighboring rooms. Once they 
spoke in a high tone ; Josephine appeared fatigued, 
and they were obliged to make her inhale ether to pre- 
vent her from fainting ; then, M. Lherbe', who was in 
the room, going to the door, opened it, and begged 
her husband, who was on the landing-place, to ask these 
persons to keep silence. Now the door being open, a 
sister zelatrice entered, for God willed that she should 
be in the chamber. She went to the end of the room 
and placed herself on her knees before the statue of 
Our Lady of Dolors. But M. Lherbe, who had allowed 
her to enter only because God willed it, was provoked 
at himself and requested her to go out; he said that 
this person should leave the room or all the others 
would want to enter. This sister zelatrice, on hearing 
these words, as she afterwards told us, essayed to rise 
three times, but felt herself restrained by an invisible 
force. M. Lherbe seized her by the arm, but was un- 
able to make her stand up. We also went to her, but 
instead of asking her to leave, we said to Louis : ' One 
person more or less is of no consequence.' And we 
closed the door, promising M. Lherbe to open it as soon 
as the apparition took place. 

" Now, pay attention. Josephine was completely blind. 
From time to time we passed our hand before her open 



21$: :* oeullcret. 223 

eves, and thev made no movenv he did not k; 

who this person was who had entered the room, but she 
began to speak. For the was inspired, and 

while deprived of her bocl 

of her soul. She said : ' This is the lady who has lost 
her son: he was a Christ:. og man. and a rare 

young man.' All present were ravished with admira- 
tion in hearing Josephine, who was blind, speaking as if 
she had the use of her eyes. We had visited this sister 
zelatrice, and had heard her son spoken of. 
spired seeress added : ' He died by accident, but c 
can die of all kinds of accidents." Touched by these 
words, we said to Josephine : 'Josephine, is this young 
man in heaven;' She replied: 'Yes. and he p: 
for us.' The mother heard these words, and. while 
thanking God. she wept. Her son had died on the feast 

St Michael the preceding year. It was on Sund; 
He had heard Mass and attended Vespers after the 
Mass. in his parish church, and during the afternoon 
he had gone to a neighboring village to r it to his 

relatives. He had taken his gun to shoot the game he 

ght meet on his way. Consequently, he had not 
devoted the whole of Sundav to hunting, without assist- 
ing at Mass and Vespers, as hunter.- gc do, and 

God often allows them to be killed by accident, s 
punish them, examples of which are cited every year in 
the papers. This youth did not encounter any gam 
On entering the house of his relatives, he stood the _ 
in a corner of the parlor ; the dog started up. then 
threw himself down again : the gun went off. and the 
unfortunate young man received the whole charge in his 
head. He lived twelve hours : he received Extreme 
Unction and recited with the priest the prayers of the 



224 Apparitions of 23oulIeret. 



agonizing, and died offering his life to God. Josephine 
emphasized the words : i This was a rare young man.'' 
He was twenty-seven years old. He had served his 
three years of military duty in a regiment at Lyons, 
and had never ceased to love and serve God. The 
following fact was related to us by his father. Being 
with his regiment, some comrades had wished to try 
his virtue. One day they brought to him a poor unfor- 
tunate, and laid her at his feet. And he, affected, 
started up, and reproached her for her criminal life ; he 
spoke of the vengeance of God and of His infinite 
mercy, and engaged her to go and throw herself on her 
knees before the priest, confess her sins, and obtain 
pardon, after the example of Mary Magdalene, who went 
and threw herself at the feet of Jesus and watered them 
with her tears. This woman, on hearing these words, 
arose, covered with shame, and retired weeping. Yes, 
Josephine, ignorant and unacquainted with this fact, had 
said truly : this was a rare young man, who during this 
century, when even children still seated on the knees 
of their mothers fall into impurity, as Our Lady of 
Dolors has said for the last two years at Boulleret, 
could pass the years of his youth in purity and inno- 
cence in a regiment, notwithstanding the many occasions 
of sin, and all the efforts of the world and of hell. Yes, 
this was a rare young man, and we are not astonished 
that he is in heaven. God willed that this woman, this 
poor mother, who never ceased to weep for her son, 
the model of children and young men, should be in the 
room, in order to console her and dry her bitter tears, 
by announcing to her through the seeress that her son 
was in heaven praying for his father and mother, for 
his family and for us. 



Apparitions o\ 25ouIlcrct. 225 



M As we have said several times in our Letters : 
Josephine is a victim principally : she is a seeress or 
prophetess only at certain times. It is only at certain 
times, outside of her apparitions, that she predicts the 
future and reads consciences. We were still under the 
influence of emotion and admiration, when M. Lherbe' 
cried : ' Open, and allow a young man to enter who is 
suffering.' Ernestine replied to him : * Let him go 
into the back room.' M. Lherbe' insisted ; we went to 
the door, opened it, and a young man of twenty-eight 
or thirty years entered. He entered because God 
willed it. As they said he was suffering, we followed 
him with our eyes, to see if he would seat himself on a 
chair. He went to the foot of the chamber, and, 
kneeling before the statue, began to pray. Josephine 
said with a smile of incredulity : ' Yes, he is sick ! 
This is the vouns; man from Anders, who. this morning, 
carried a large bouquet for the most holy Virgin/ 
Ravished anew, we said to the seeress : ' How do you 
know it wa*s this young man? It was the Blessed Vir- 
gin who told you.' She replied : ' The Blessed Vir- 
gin loves him well. 9 Those who were in the room soon 
told the young man what Josephine had said. These 
words gave us great pleasure, because they will rejoice 
the associates of Angers, who number nearly a thou- 
sand. They will particularly delight the zelators and 
zelatrices of that city, who never cease to send us long 
lists of names. For several years we have been plan- 
ning to go to Angers to visit the associates, but this 
city is not on the road we follow in going through 
Boulleret to Italy, and it is with regret that we always 
postpone our visit until another year ; the joy these 
associates will experience on learning that one of their 



226 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

number is loved so much by the Blessed Virgin de- 
lights and consoles us. My brothers and sisters, let 
us love God above all things ; let us serve Him with 
greater fidelity ; let us respond to the desire of Our 
Lady of Dolors of Boulleret, to recite every day with 
fervor, piety and tears the chaplet of her seven dolors ; 
let us make known, near and far, her desire ; let us 
augment our number without ceasing, and the Blessed 
Virgin will love us as she loves this young man ; Our 
Lady of Dolors will then love us well. 

" Such were the two persons who entered the room 
before the apparition. We were then fourteen. Mean- 
while, there still glided away some long moments of 
painful waiting, particularly for those who were stand- 
ing pressed together on the stairs and landing-place 
and in the rooms. It was nearly half-past two o'clock. 
Josephine was not yet in ecstasy, and they despaired 
of the apparition taking place. We were thinking how 
we would make the announcement to you that there 
had been no apparition this year on May 13th, when 
Josephine insensibly fell into ecstasy. It was then 
half-past two, by the clock at Boulleret, and precisely 
two at Paris. Josephine, who until now was obliged 
to inhale ether every ten minutes or quarter of an 
hour to prevent her from fainting ; who, from time to 
time asked her husband to raise her, extending her 
arms as if in pain and then drawing them back on her 
breast, now put her hands together, crossing her 
fingers, and with the upper part of her body resting as 
before on the two cushions which had been placed on 
her pillow, fixed her large eyes before her a little to 
the right, at about six feet above her, and pronounced 
these words : 



ripparition? of SouUertt 227 

" ' O my God. have pity on me. I see nothing. 
Lord. Lord, have pity on me ! ' Probably, as in 
preceding apparitions, she must have seen a cloud, 
before Jesus all-amiable and Our Lady of Dolors showed 
themselves to her. and she prayed to God to have pity 
on her. After pronouncing these words, she unfolded 
her hands and held her arms as the priest holds his 
while saying the preface during the Mass, and she 
sans: the refrain and two verses of the following canti- 
cle chanted already by her in one or more preceding 
apparitions : * To our succor. Virgin Man* — To our 
succor, come to save us in these days — Virgin Mary, 
to our aid ! ' When Josephine commenced to chant 
this canticle, the door of the room had been opened, 
so that those of the house, and a number of persons 
from Boulleret entered and joined the strangers : the 
number who assisted was from one hundred to one 
hundred and twenty. 

M Having finished the canticle, Josephine repeated 
these words, which the Blessed Virgin addressed to her 
for our instruction : ' The most holy Virgin recommends 
to you at this time prayer, humility, mortification and 
penance. She supplicates her divine Son to appease 
the anger of God the Father, for He is irritated to the 
last extremity. Three archangels, armed with swords, 
are on the point of destroying France and the entire 
universe.' Silence. The moments during which 
Josephine kept silence were sometimes very long. She 
was listening to words she was not allowed to repeat, 
or she herself was speaking to Jesus all-amiable or to 
His holy Mother. i At this time, that which most 
wounds the Heart of our divine Saviour are the blas- 
phemies uttered by children scarcely out of the arms 



228 Apparitions of Boulleret 

of their mothers.' Silence. ' Now, two women clothed 
in black, a white standard in their hands on which is 
imprinted the image of the Sacred Heart, supplicate 
Him to deliver their country. , After the apparition, 
the two persons from Lorraine were presented to 
Josephine, and in recommending themselves to her 
prayers begged her also to pray for Lorraine. Josephine 
turned toward them and said with vivacity : ' But these 
two persons whom I saw vested in black represented 
Alsace and Lorraine.' This detail of the apparition 
and these words assuredly consoled the poor pilgrims 
from these two cities. Let the associates of these two 
provinces make known, calmly and without noise, this 
detail and the words of the prophetess, to their com- 
patriots remaining faithful to France, particularly 
that our dear associates of Lorraine and Alsace may 
not cease to honor the seven wounds of the Heart of 
Our Lady of Dolors of Boulleret, that the fervent zelators 
and zelatrices continue to seek, near and far, for new 
and numerous associates. And let them hope ! let them 
hope with faith and confidence : the triumph of France 
announced for fifteen years will be their deliverance. 
Let them make known, I repeat, the apparition of the 
13th of May last, and propagate the devotion to Our 
Lady of Dolors, calmly and without noise. Yes, the 
two women clothed in black, and having in their hands 
a white banner ornamented with the Sacred Heart of 
Jesus, will not pray in vain to Jesus all-amiable, and 
the triumph of France will be the deliverance of Lor- 
raine and Alsace. Dear associates of these provinces, 
be zealous, then : be zealous, be zealous, calmly and 
without noise. 

" Josephine continued : ' The most holy Virgin re- 



Apparitions of Boullcrct. 229 



proaches persons, even the most pious and devout, 
for wounding the Sacred Heart of her divine Son by 
not fulfilling all their duties. The greater number of 
these persons who call themselves pious go to church 
to please men and not to please God ; day after day 
they wound the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Most of 
them confess through routine, and approach the sacra- 
ments through habit rather than through love. Even 
those who are most devoted to the Mother of sorrows 
do not correct themselves of their unbridled luxury ; 
they follow the descent of the muddy stream, and, arriv- 
ing at the end, expose themselves to the danger of 
falling to the bottom of the abyss for all eternity.' 
Silence. 

" These reproaches which the Blessed Virgin ad- 
dresses to those who call themselves pious, and who 
appear very pious, our divine Saviour mentions in the 
Act of Love. Let us take care, then. Let us love God 
with our whole hearts, above all things, and not love 
the world. Prepare to make good and holy communions, 
ask your confessor to instruct, enlighten, and coun- 
sel you on this subject. And, my sisters, my dear 
sisters, for the love of God, for the love of God, do not 
follow the unbridled luxury of this century. Discard 
all these vain and criminal ornaments of vanity and pride 
inspired by Satan. Misfortunes are from thence : 
clothe yourselves with the habiliments of mourning; 
you are soon going to be plunged in affliction and deso- 
lation, and will shed cruel and bitter tears. 

" After a short silence, Josephine continued : ' But, 
my good Mother, what do you wish me to do ? I am 
fettered on all sides.' Silence. The most holy Vir- 
gin reproached Josephine touching the mission she has 



230 Apparitions of Soulleret. 

to fulfil. Tears filled her eyes^ and the sadness pictured 
on her features was very great. She continued : 

" 'Ah ! my good Mother, why so much useless suffer- 
ing, since they will not believe me ? ' Josephine spoke 
thus, for though the Association numbers one hundred 
and thirty thousand, all believing that the apparitions 
of Boulleret are divinely supernatural, and the mission 
of Josephine is also divine, how much more numerous 
are those who reject these apparitions and will not 
believe ! ' You could, at least, make me a victim un- 
known to the world.' Josephine would have less to 
suffer bodily, as well as in heart and mind, if she were 
an unknown victim. But God has willed that she be 
known, and that she should suffer in her whole being, 
the more closely to resemble Jesus crucified. 

" Until this time, Josephine, who had been propped 
up in a sitting posture, was resting against the cushions. 
She now leaned forward quickly, clasped her hands, 
and replied to some words that had been said to her, 
but which she had not repeated : ' Oh, no, I still pre- 
fer my sufferings and even a thousand deaths, if 
necessary, rather than abandon the livery with which 
you have invested me. I would be a coward ; this 
would compromise me.' As we have said, the Blessed 
Virgin reproached the poor victim, who sometimes 
succumbs under the weight of her cross. Let us 
pray for her continually ; by our prayers we will aid her 
to carry her cross, after the example of Simon the 
Cyrenean. After a moment's silence, Josephine con- 
tinued : 

ct ' Listen to what Our Lady of Dolors says : " I 
ask most urgently that they come to pray in this 
blessed place where I have manifested myself so many 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 231 



Touching this desire of Our Lady of Dolors, 
this is what we counsel those who come to Boulleret to 
see the prophetess and victim. When they enter into 
the chamber of the apparitions, where Josephine re 
mains during the whole year, either in bed, or, from the 
beginning of July until November 1st, seated in a re- 
clining chair, they should not, at first, salute either 
Josephine or those who are with her, but, taking holy 
water, make the sign of the cross, and, lowering their 
eyes, proceed to the end of the room, where they should 
place themselves on their knees before the statue of 
Our Lady of Dolors, and recite seven times, with their 
arms in the form of a cross, the Hail Mary of Our 
Lady of Compassion, and seven times the invocation, 
4 Our Lady of the Seven Dolors, pray for us and for the 
salvation of France.' Then let them salute Josephine 
and converse with her, avoiding any questions on the 
subject of the apparitions, as she has no permission to 
speak of them. After a visit of twenty minutes or half 
an hour at most, they will recite the chaplet of Our 
Lady of Dolors and retire. 

" Josephine continued to repeat aloud the words which 
she heard. ' The most holv Virgin savs that thev 
must not ever believe that the souls in Purgatory are 
delivered by one single Mass, one alms, or any one 
good work whatever. It is necessary to make great 
sacrifices for the defunct, and principally, in having 
the holy sacrifice of the 'Mass celebrated for them.' 
Silence. After these words we made the following 
reflections. In this century of impiety and indifference, 
of pride and vanity, when the principal end of man is 
pleasure, they do not think of the souls in Purgatory ; 
they do not have the sacrifice of the Mass offered for 



232 Apparitions of Souileret. 



them several times, but leave them plunged for long 
years in those flames, of which the saints, who have 
seen them in ecstasy, give us such a frightful picture. 
I said that during this century they do not think 
of the souls in Purgatory ; I am mistaken, they do 
think of them ; they raise to the dead superb and 
costly tombs ; they place on these tombs large and 
beautiful wreaths, at an expense of from five to fifty 
dollars and more ; wreaths which decorate and orna- 
ment the stone of the sepulchre ; but, I ask, of what 
profit are they for the souls, who wait in the flames of 
Purgatory to have the holy sacrifice of the Mass 
offered for them, the sooner to send them to heaven ? 

" The words that Josephine now pronounced con- 
cerned herself particularly, so we asked no explanation. 
' O my good Mother, what more do you wish me to do ? 
I am already powerless, I have only to obey. O my 
good Mother ! indeed I wish to submit to all ; the 
only thing I beg of you is to restore me my sight. This 
is the greatest affliction which you can impose upon 
me.' As we said lately, her sight has not been restored 
to her. 

" Until now, Josephine had been sad, her eyes full of 
tears, but at this moment her face became radiant 
and she said : ' Our Lord speaks in a loud tone ; God 
the Father is about to make a complete regeneration in 
France and the entire universe. All the chastisements 
which God has sent until how have only made the 
incredulous harder. No one sees clearly ; every one 
is blind. They pretend that it has been so from all 
time. The chastisements are coming at a great pace. 
God the Father has His arm raised to strike. The 
angels are provided with swords to strike the incar- 






Apparitions of Boulleret. 233 

nate demons through their bodies. Yes, France is to 
be greatly pitied. The saddest and most terrible part 
is, that those who wait until the last moment to be 
converted will not have time to regulate their con- 
sciences with God, It is Our Lord who warns us. God 
has permitted — a comparison painful to make — that I 
should pass through a frightful crisis on Passion Sunday, 
to make us comprehend how difficult it is for those who 
have lost the faith to regulate their consciences with 
God. Unfortunate are those who lose their faith ! 
Unfortunate are those who will wait until the last 

chastisement to be converted Our Lord, who 

shed the last drop of His blood, sees His creatures 

revolt against Him Who will ever see anything 

more abominable after the hand of God has stricken 
us.' The most holy Virgin said at La Salette in 
1S46 that after the chastisements the earth will re- 
semble a desert. 

The above points indicate that all the words pro- 
nounced by Josephine were not taken. 

"All this time Josephine had kept her eyes raised, a 
little to the right, and more than six feet high ; now she 
raised them a little higher, and kept them fixed before 
her ; she continued to speak : ' Our Lord, who is vested 
in His royal_ garments, is surrounded by an aureole of 
glory, His pierced hands and feet shedding upon us 
abundant benedictions. The most holy Virgin suppli- 
cates Our Lord to spare us, and Our Saviour asks His 
Father to deliver us.' Silence. Josephine, resting on 
the cushion, clasped her hands, and said : ' Yes, my 
good Mother, I pray for all the intentions which have 
been recommended to me without any exception ; it is 
thus I deposit them at your feet.' In this manner the 



234 Apparitions of Soulleret. 

victim has deposited at the feet of Our Lady of Dolors 
all the requests and supplications which persons have 
sent to her, praying her to present them to the most 
holy Virgin. With regard to those who would wish to 
receive a response, our heavenly Mother did not make 
a point of it, and she has not made a point of it, gen- 
erally, at Boulleret. One of our brother zelators of 
Italy has written to us several times, to ask Josephine 
to ask the Blessed Virgin whether the associates of 
Italy must also pray for the salvation of their country. 
The Blessed Virgin did not respond to this request, 
but our dear associates of Italy, like those of other 
nations, can add to the invocation : ' Our Lady of 
Dolors, pray fur us and for the salvation of France, 
Italy, or Ireland, or America/ etc., as the case may 
be. 

" After a moment of silence, the victim added : ' I 
wish it much. ... If you wish me to suffer I am entirely 
resigned to your will.' Silence. Josephine joined 
her hands and recited, with angelic purity, the Act of 
Love ; those assembled recited it with her in a low tone. 
She then recited the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, and 
we all responded : ' Pray for us/ Then followed the 
Hail Mary of Our Lady of Compassion and Spare, O 
Lord, spare Thy people, etc., each three tunes, the as- 
sistants answering. She then repeated the following 
words : 

" ' Our Lord said, likewise : Pray, fast, mortify your- 
self, do penance ; you can expect from day to day, 
from hour to hour, to be destroyed by the vengeful 
hand of God.' After these words, this terrible but 
salutary warning of our divine Saviour, Josephine 
chanted the canticle : ' My heart is heavy, my soul is 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 235 

moved.' Then she made a great sign of the cross, 
the assistants making it with her, for at this moment 
Jesus all-amiable blessed Josephine and those who were 
present, and all who recite the Act of Love and honor 
the seven wounds of the heart of Mary, according to 
their desire. After making the sign of the cross, 
Josephine slowly followed, with her eyes, Jesus and 
Our Lady of Dolors ascending gently to heaven ; and 
as her head had been entirely raised upward, she now, 
closing her eyes, allowed it to fall back on the cush- 
ions ; she came out of the ecstasy, and the apparition 
ended. 

" Then, as in the preceding year, all those who as- 
sisted at the apparition felt in their hearts and souls 
a sweet joy, a happiness and celestial felicity. The 
women, moved but calm, approached Josephine si- 
lently : some embraced her, others kissed her hand ; 
others, again, whispered something in her ear. It was 
five minutes to three, Paris time, when the apparition 
came to an end. 

" After the apparition, Josephine's health improved ; 
she no longer had those weak spells when they were 
obliged to give her ether to prevent her from swooning, 
but she was not cured, nor was her sight restored. We 
said to her : ' Josephine, the Blessed Virgin has not 
cured you.' She replied sadly, but with resignation : 
' God wills that I suffer.' My brothers and sisters, let 
us pray for the poor victim, for she suffers for us as 
well as for the salvation of the Church, France and the 
whole world. 

" Time fails us to make reflections. But what reflec- 
tions could we make ? Remember the words of Our 
Lord and Our Lady of Dolors, and make them known 



236 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

near and far, so that they will be put in practice ; pray, 
fast, mortify yourselves, do penance. Recite every day 
the Act of Love and the chaplet of Our Lady of the 
Seven Dolors, for the chastisements are near : they ad- 
vance at a great pace and we must expect to be stricken 
from day to day, from hour to hour, by the vengeful 
arm of God. Do not forget to tell others, near and far, 
that Our Lady of Dolors has promised to protect those 
who honor the seven wounds of her heart. ' Those 
who will honor the seven wounds of my heart will be 
preserved from all danger/ 

" We finish this Letter at Rome to-day, June 1st. We 
would like to speak to you of Mgr. Tarino, who received 
us with so much pleasure and friendship ; of the Car- 
melites of St. Bridget's Convent, who begged us to 
transmit their sentiments of lively gratitude to those 
among you who subscribe for wax candles for the 
adoration of reparation to Jesus 'in the Host ; of His 
Eminence the Cardinal Prince-Bishop of Cracovie, who 
yesterday did us the honor of receiving and conversing 
with us. We will give you some details of these inter- 
views in our next Letter. 

" On the 15th of this month it will be five years since 
we established the Association, in order to make known 
the desire of the Blessed Virgin expressed at Boulleret : 
to honor the seven wounds of her Heart for the conver- 
sion of sinners, the salvation of the Church, Rome, 
France and the world ; the number of associates to- 
day is 130,500. Let us thank God for having united, 
in so short a time, under the banner of Our Lady of 
the Seven Dolors, so great a multitude, and be zealous, 
be zealous, be zealous ! Let us profit by the days that 
still remain before the great chastisements ; let us con- 



^Ipparitiottf of BouIIcrct. 237 

tinue to make known the desire of Mary near and far ; 
and be zealous, be zealous, be zealous ! 

u We arrived at Cette on the 7th, at four o'clock in the 
morning. " 

Article Forty-seventh. — Apparition of May 13 th, 18Q2. 
(Extract from the Review, June 1892.) 
" How have we found the poor victim ? We have not 
received any news for more than two weeks. In the 
last letter we received from Boulleret they told us that 
Josephine had raised, on Monday and Wednesday of 
Holy Week, more than four quarts of blood, and that 
she no longer arose, on account of her weakness ; but 
we think that the vomitings had ceased after Holv 
Thursday or Good Friday, as her strength was return- 
ing. She arose in the middle of the day, and we fully 
expected to find her, on the 18th, raised and seated on 
her extension-chair, awaiting the visit of Jesus all- 
amiable and Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. But how 
did we find her ? She was lying in bed, her head and 
the upper part of her body supported by cushions, and 
still blind ; her eyes were partially closed, the balls 
drawn near one another, and her forehead was seamed 
from the effects of her suffering. Her left side was 
totally paralyzed. We approached and said to her : 
1 Josephine, in what a condition do we behold you ! ' She 
pronounced some words which we could not distinguish. 
We then said : l Josephine, do you recognize me ? ' 
Again, she stammered some words, but we could not com- 
prehend her. What pain her lamentable state caused 
our heart ! We could not restrain our tears. They 
told us that she had had great vomitings of blood dur- 
ing Easter Week and the week following, and on the 



238 Apparitions of Boulleret, 

27th her left side was paralyzed. The doctor, being 
called, said this was the effect of weakness : it is God 
who immolates the poor victim for the conversion of 
sinners, the salvation of the Church, Rome and France. 
About one hundred persons had come from all parts of 
France, one from Lorraine, to assist at the apparition. 5. 
Between half-past one and two o'clock, twenty of these 
people were in the room ; so that Josephine would not 
suffer from the heat, the others remained on the land- 
ing-place, the stairs, and in the neighboring rooms. 
From time to time, the poor suffering victim asked her 
husband to raise her on the cushions, to give her a tea- 
spoonful of sweetened water in which they had put a 
few drops of lemon juice, or, sometimes, to allow her to 
inhale ether so as to prevent her from fainting. She 
could move only her right arm ; her eyelids sometimes 
opened a little. They heard her say these words, which 
her husband repeated, for we could not distinguish 
them : ' Oh, how I suffer ! ' again : ' I am so warm ! ' 
and then : ' Louis, I am thirsty/ At one time, she no 
longer wishes the sweetened water, but asks for natural 
water. They had none in the room, and as it would be 
difficult to descend to the kitchen to get it, they told 
her there was none and it was impossible to go down. 
We were astonished at the slightly brusque manner in 
which they replied to the victim ; we did not ask the 
husband or Ernestine to grant the desire of Josephine. 
God willed her to get this dart, so as the more to re- 
semble Jesus, immolated for us on the cross ; when He 
said : ' I thirst,' they gave Him no water, but presented 
Him with vinegar and gall. However, the time was 
prolonged. The people who were in the room, those 
who filled the landing-place, the stairs, and the other 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 239 

rooms, recited in a low tone, with devotion, the chaplet 
of Our Lady of Dolors. The apparition did not com- 
mence until ten minutes before three, and it lasted one 
hour and a half. At ten minutes of three, Josephine 
said : ' I am not so warm, I am not so warm.' She 
opened her eyes and looked before her. Her suffer^ 
ings had ceased. As she remained silent, casting her 
glance in a certain direction, we feared she would say 
nothing of what she saw and heard, as on former occa- 
sions before she had been forbidden to speak of her ap- 
paritions. We said to her : — ■ Josephine, what do you 
see ? ' She replied: — ' Nothing.' A short time after, 
we repeated the question, when she made the same re- 
sponse or said : ' A cloud.' The noise made at this 
moment did not permit us to hear this word distinctly. 
At last she spoke in a high tone. She spoke slowly, so 
that the four persons who were near the bed writing, 
were able to take all, or nearly all, that she said. There 
were some very long moments of silence, when Jose- 
phine gave no account of what she saw and heard, 
neither could we hear what she herself addressed to 
Jesus all-amiable and His holy Mother. Josephine 
assisted, in ecstasy, at the chastisements, the tableau 
of which was unrolled before her. She was very sad 
nearly all the time ; she shed so many tears that her 
husband was obliged to dry her face several times. 
The day following the apparition, the poor victim suf- 
fered a great deal. We said to her :— ' Josephine, do you 
think of your last apparition ? It is a subject of con- 
solation for you ; ' she added : ' and of sadness.' Dur- 
ing the apparition, Josephine had moved her right arm, 
held it some time like a priest holds his at the preface 
or Pater ; she does not move her left arm, that side 



240 Apparitions of Boullcrct. 

still remaining paralyzed, while she yet continues blind. 
Josephine smiled on seeing the most holy Virgin, who 
showed herself first, then Our Lord appeared, and Jesus 
withdrew before His holy Mother. 

" ' Ah ! I salute you ; I salute you, O most pure lily 
of the Holy Trinity ! I salute you, O Virgin Immacu- 
late ! ' She chanted the canticle : ' O Immaculate Vir- 
gin.' She then repeated these words of the most holy 
Virgin : ' I am the Mystical Rose, I am the Morning 
Star who guides the poor and the orphan, I am the 
Health of the sick, I am the Refuge of sinners, I 
am the Consolation of the afflicted, and more, the 
Queen of martyrs.' Silence. ' Remember, I hold to 
my promise of investing you in my livery. Be faithful 
to your desolate Mother and I will protect you in the 
hour of danger.' Silence. ' Yes, my child, everything 
I have announced to thee for many years will be en- 
tirely realized, and I repeat, unhappy are those persons 
who, calling themselves pious and devout, give their 
hearts to the world and not to God.' Silence. ' Oh, 
no, not to God, but to vanity, and to a perverted world. 
Yes, my children, the more God recommends penance, 
suffering and mortification, the more you love pleasure. 
You pass your time at balls, and in fashionable society, 
and not near the God of the Eucharist ! How many 
even among my associates, who are members of the 
Association in appearance, but not always in reality, 
pass their nights in festivity and merrymaking, and 
the following day present themselves to the God of the 
Eucharist with profane and impure hearts, and even as 
if they thought preparation was unnecessary ! ' Long 
silence. 

" * Yes, my children, I am the Queen of martyrs and 



2lppartttons of Boullerct. 241 

many times a martyr ! ' Josephine raised herself alone, 
without the aid of her husband, and spoke thus : — ' O 
my good Mother, what a frightful spectacle you present 
to my eyes ! Pardon, Lord, pardon.' Silence. ' Our 
divine Saviour is on a Calvary, accompanied by His 
heavenly Mother (Our Lord appeared at this moment), 
His hand extended over Paris ; He wept bitterly. 
Alas ! what is about to occur ? It is that Paris will be 
cursed as well as all the great cities where so much 
crime is committed. . . . No one can believe it ; no, no 
one can believe it. . . .' 

" The seeress looked at the tableau of the great chas- 
tisements which was visible to her eyes. She said 
twice : ' Lord, Lord, have mercy on us ! Divine hands 
of Our Saviour, help us.' . . . Oh, yes, if it be necessary, 
rather let me suffer more.' Long silence. ' Houses 
are falling in. Many are perishing in the midst of the 
plague ; others under the ruins of houses, in the flames, 
or under the trenches of the murderous enemy. . . . 
Priests and religious orders of men and women are 
greatly tried. The souls of many rise to heaven while 
chanting, Glory to God in the highest heavens ! Three 
archangels are in front facing this tumult, provided 
with swords to strike the demons. But, nevertheless, 
all Paris has sinned. . . . Oh, what frightful disaster ! 
. . . The blood of the victims flows even to the waters 
of the sea. . . . One portion of the earth is entirely 
deserted. . . . Those who will be far from their homes 
will have difficulty in finding the road to their dwell- 
ings. O terrible and horrible thing ! no one, with- 
out the power of God, will be able to remain master of 
himself. The most fervent souls will fall into mortal 
agonv and terror. Yes, our heavenly Mother will 
16 



242 ^Ippartttons of Boulleret. 

always be there to succor us. But God is just, He 
must punish us until we pay the last farthing. . . . (Now 
follows the tableau of the last great and terrible chas- 
tisement.) Heaven and earth are covered with dark 
clouds. Demons roar furiously, and the people are 
surrounded by them. They seek to destroy the children 
of the Sacred Heart. Heart of Jesus, save us, have 
mercy on us. Unhappy are all you who live in sin.' 
Long silence, during which Our Lord addressed some 
words to Josephine. ' Lord, what wilt Thou that I do ? 
I am a very feeble instrument to be of use to Thee, but 
nevertheless I sacrifice myself entirely. . . . Let all 
those devoted to the Sacred Heart and to Our Lady of 
Dolors pray and redouble their fervor, in order to be 
spared, if not in this world, at least in the other.' 
Long silence. We believe it was at this time Our Lord 
withdrew. ' I wish it much, O my good Mother, pro- 
vided that I walk always in the path of obedience. . . . 
The Mother of sorrows requests that all pious persons 
pray and have prayers said for the salvation of France, 
for the Holy Father, the bishops, priests, religious 
orders, and all apostolical persons. . . . 

" ' O my good Mother, I present to you all the inten- 
tions which have been recommended to me; I recom- 
mend to you my relations, my family, my benefactors 
and benefactresses, all those who are dear to me, my 
friends, my enemies, and the holy souls in Purgatory.' 
She chanted the canticle ' Tender Mary.' 

" The victim then recited the Litany of the Blessed 
Virgin; the assistants answering: ' Pray for us.* She 
repeated each of the following invocations three times : 
' Queen of heaven, Refuge of sinners, Consolation of 
the afflicted, Queen of prophets, Queen of apostles, 



2IppartttoTts of Boulleret. 243 

Queen of martyrs, Queen of confessors, Queen of the 
Holy Rosary.' She recited a prayer, which she termi- 
nated thus : ' Deliver us from present afflictions. . . .' 

" ' Our Lord and the holy Virgin asked that they 
recite the much desired and much recommended 
prayer of His divine Heart {Act of Love)? The victim 
then recited the Act of Love, and after that, the Hail 
Mary of Our Lady of Compassion, seven times, followed 
by the verse : ' We adore Thee, O Lord, and we bless 
Thee, because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed 
the world.' She recited three times, Spare, O Lord, etc. ; 
she chanted the canticles : ferusalem, my happy home, 
. . . My heart sighs. 

" She then sat upright and said : - Lord, pour forth 
Thy benediction on me, on my family and on all those 
who are present.' She made the sign of the cross. 
She sang three verses of the Ave Maris Stella with 
the Laudate Mariam as a refrain, which the assistants 
chanted with her. She then sang the canticle of St. 
Teresa : Behold then my portion, To suffer or die. She 
recited the chaplet of the seven dolors, the assistants 
saying it with her. She chanted the refrain : Virgin our 
hope, and said : ' O my good Mother, I will love you 
always, and always more.' Silence. 

" Josephine rendered an account of the tableau which 
was placed before her : ' At this moment, the churches 
are thrown down, the altars are broken in pieces, the 
ciboriums overthrown, the priests persecuted : a great 
number will perish, but the foundation-stone will last 
forever. O my good Mother, what will become of us 
on this earth ? Do not permit, I supplicate you, that 
this tableau remain engraved in my memory ; I will 
never be able to withstand it. . . . Blessed are they 



244 2!pparttiotts of Bouileret. 

who die with pure hearts. . . . Oh, wh at will remain 
to us here on this earth ? . . . Our Holy Father the 
Pope will be very much disturbed, all the bishops 
persecuted. The blood of the innocent cries to Heaven 
for vengeance. . . . 

" ' Yes, my children, I have promised I will be in the 
midst of you to console you.' The victim chanted : ' It 
is time, sinners, to return to the Lord.' . . . She said: 
' To-day it is God who calls you ; be not rebels to the 
voice of the Lord.' . . . She made the sign of the cross, 
closed her eyes, and her head fell back on the cushions. 

" We will give some explanations of this apparition in 
our July Letter. Let our dear associates read and re- 
read the words of Jesus all-amiable and Our Lady of 
Dolors, bearing in mind their warnings and putting in 
practice their recommendations. 

" May Jesus all-amiable and Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors bless the victim and all of us. In the name of 
the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. 
Amen. 

" Cette, June ist. Monseigneur the Archbishop of 
Bourges gave up his soul to God in the night of the 
25th of May. We join our sentiments of sorrow and 
respect to those of the clergy and the faithful of the 
diocese of Bourges. We recommend our dear associ- 
ates to pray for the repose of the soul of Mgr. Joseph 
Marchal. — We returned to Cette May 31st. 

" The number of associates at our departure from 
Cette, April 28th, was 161,000." 

Note. — The points . . . indicate moments of silence. 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 245 

Article Forty-eighth. — Apparition of May ijth, 1893. 

(Extract from the Monthly Review, June 1893.) 

" My brothers and sisters of the Heart of Jesus and of 
Our Lady of Dolors, there was an apparition at Boulleret 
on May 13th. This makes the eleventh time that 
Josephine, prophetess and victim, has had an apparition 
on this day, the anniversary of her birth and feast of 
the Queen of martyrs. 1 In last month's Letter, we 
informed you that Josephine had raised but little blood 
during Lent, that she had regained enough strength to 
rise during the day, that she had been able to assist at 
the offices of Holy Thursday and Good Friday, that 
she had made her Easter communion at the church 
and had assisted, on Easter Sunday, at Mass and Ves- 
pers ; she passed Easter Week without raising anything, 
but the following two weeks she raised over twelve 
quarts of blood, losing all her strength and being 
obliged to keep her bed, besides fainting frequently. 
It was in this condition that the pilgrims found her on 
the 13th of May. When the month of May arrived, 
the victim ceased to vomit, but she then had an attack 
of bronchitis which necessitated the application of blis- 
ters. Her youngest daughter, Valerie, also had it at 
the same time, and these two being soon cured, the 
mother, husband, and eldest daughter were attacked 
with the same disease; so that when we arrived at 
Boulleret, on the morning of May 13th, we found all 

1 There is a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Martyrs in the 
diocese of Lucon and in that of Rochelle. We said before that 
the feast of the Queen of Martyrs, May 13th, was celebrated in 
the diocese of Bourges : at present it is not celebrated there, but 
at Rome, as is announced in the Roman Martyrology. 



246 Apparitions of Boutteret. 

four confined to bed. Marie only, the second child, 
had not been ill. A sister-in-law of Josephine assisted 
Marie and Octave, the husband of Ernestine (who is 
now married), to nurse the sick. At one period the 
doctor had some fears for Ernestine, who was in a 
delicate condition. But, after May 13th, all being 
better, they were able to rise and sometimes go to their 
meals, except Josephine, and she also had a little more 
strength, commencing to drink one or two teaspoons of 
milk ; nevertheless, they continued to sit up with her. 
" But we must hasten to give you an account of the 
apparition. Last year Our Lord, having His Heart 
exposed on His bosom, and Our Lady of Dolors, hav- 
ing hers pierced with seven swords, appeared to Jose- 
phine, about three o'clock, and the apparition lasted an 
hour and a half ; this year, probably because May 13th 
fell on Saturday, the apparition took place at twenty 
minutes before three, Paris time, and lasted three- 
quarters of an hour. This gave the pilgrims who did 
not live far from Boulleret an opportunity to return 
home the same day. The pilgrims numbered seventy 
or eighty, some from the South : Aude, Gard, Herault, 
Cantal ; from the West : Finistere, Maine-et-Loire ; 
from the North : Paris ; from the East : Nancy, etc. 
One fervent zelator from Gard, who on shaking 
hands excused himself on account of their color — he 
works in a mine and his employment is pushing little 
wagons of coal before him — had been sent by the 
associates whom he had gathered into the Confraternity 
of Our Lady of Dolors, so that, on his return, he would 
give them an account of the apparition, tell them of the 
victim and prophetess, of her family, and of Boulleret. 
Another poor pilgrim, from the Loire, had come on foot 



2Ipparttionf of Boullcrct. 247 



and stopped at fourteen places, sleeping on the road, 
along the route, sometimes crouched under his umbrella 
when it rained. After the apparition, several pilgrims 
took him away with them ; they conducted him to the 
hotel where they were stopping, and said to the land- 
lady : ' You will give this pilgrim something to e:it and 
we will pay you.' ; No, you will not pay for him ' she 
replied, ' I will give him all that he needs, without any 
expense to you.' This did not suffice for the pious, 
charitable pilgrims ; they made a collection among 
themselves and gave the poor pilgrim enough money to 
return by the railroad. About forty pilgrims had come 
to Boulleret to thank Our Lady of Dolors for favors 
they had asked and which she had obtained for them. 
Two priests and four nuns assisted at the apparition. 
All the pilgrims were animated with sentiments of faith 
and piety, and chanted the refrain of the canticles with 
Josephine during her ecstasy, and said the prayers 
which she recited. 

ki About one o'clock, they allowed the pilgrims to be 
shown into the chamber of the victim. The room was 
almost full. Six or eight pilgrims were seated, and the 
others were standing closely together, having their eyes 
fixed on Josephine. All recited with devotion and in 
a low tone the chaplet of the seven dolors and other 
prayers. Although one of the windows and the door 
were open, the heat soon made itself felt ; the victim 
was incommoded ; they made her inhale ether to prevent 
her from fainting. From time to time she asked for a 
few drops of water to temper the fire which burned her 
mouth and lips. They gave her a glass containing a 
small quantity of water which assuredly was not fresh. 
Some of the pilgrims were roused ; they wanted the 



243 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

poor victim to have some tisane or at least fresh water. 
Josephine and those around her did not reply. By her 
silence the victim seemed to say : To my divine 
Saviour immolated on Calvary they gave vinegar and 
gall ! To me, a poor creature, will not some drops of 
warm water at the bottom of a glass suffice ? 

" Overpowered by the heat, the poor victim at one 
time said : ' One is in Purgatory here/ And they 
made her inhale ether. That which we admire every 
year — it is the fifth time we have assisted at the ap- 
paritions of May 13th — is to see the victim showing 
neither weariness nor vexation during the half hour or 
more when the people fill the room and surround her 
bed, never ceasing to gaze at her. And needless to add, 
that Josephine being a true prophetess and holy victim, 
they seek in vain to discover on her countenance an 
expression of a sentiment of pride, vainglory, satisfac- 
tion or contentment. All those who have occasion to 
see her say she is simple, true, humble and modest. 
She never fails to recommend herself, with simplicity 
and humility, to the prayers of those who go there to 
beg her to pray for them. Besides, the pilgrims place 
on her bed letters of petition, chaplets and medals, so 
that Our Lady of Dolors showing herself visibly to 
Josephine, may bless them. A letter from Turin, Italy, 
arrived in the morning containing these words : ' I rec- 
ommend myself to your prayers with . . . and my 
parishioners/ We could not decipher the word which 
we have replaced by the points. But Our Lady of 
Dolors read it without difficulty, and that is sufficient 
for those interested. We translated this letter, which 
was without any signature, to Josephine. Any one can 
write a letter to Our Lady of Dolors, and send it to 



2lppartttott5 of Boulleret. 249 



Josephine, asking her to place it on the bed before the 
apparition. 

" In other years, Josephine entered into ecstasy so 
gently that they asked her if the apparition had taken 
place. She perceived, at first, something like a cloud. 
Last year, or the year before, we believe, she passed 
slowly from the natural to the ecstatic state, and we 
asked her, finding she was not speaking and fearing 
that she would not give an account of what she saw : 
1 Josephine, what do you see ? ' She replied : ' Noth- 
ing.' She perceived nothing, but she passed quietly 
from the natural to the ecstatic state. This year, 
when they were not thinking, the prophetess, who was 
propped on two cushions, suddenly leaned forward, 
raised her hands, and said : ' O Sai?it Teresa ! ' She 
pronounced these words, or rather uttered this cry, 
with a mingled feeling of surprise, pious contentment, 
and holy joy ; she then chanted the following couplet : 
Behold then my portion , To suffer or die, etc. 

" This couplet was chanted by the great Saint of 
Carmel ; Josephine only repeated it, making but little 
effort either of voice or language, so that her voice ap- 
peared to be only an echo. When Josephine chanted 
during her ecstasies, she had no consciousness of doing 
so ; she is only aware of it now, because some persons 
mentioned in her presence that they heard her sing 
such or such a canticle. 

" After chanting the couplet, St. Teresa must have 
disappeared, and then God the Father, with His divine 
Son and Our Lady of Dolors, became visible to the 
victim. This is the third time that God the Father, in 
human form and on a cloud, showed Himself to Jose- 
phine. She slowly pronounced the following words : 



250 Apparitions of Boulleret. 

" ' O my sweet Saviour, how beautiful, how magnifi- 
cent Thou art in Thy splendors ! ' After these words 
she remained silent. Then she gave a description of 
the tableau now before her eyes : ' Our Lord is seated 
on a throne at the right hand of God the Father. His 
holy Mother is at His side. In His right hand He holds 
a magnificent golden star ; in His left hand the book of 
the Gospels. His wounds are as luminous and brilliant 
as the diamond, as resplendent as the sun. He is sur- 
rounded by seven beautiful chandeliers of gold andfleurs 
de lis, and is supplicati?ig His Father to arrest still longer 
the wrath with which He must strike us at some time. 
Our heavenly Mother, 011 her side, supplicates Him also, 
and begs for grace for unhappy sinners. Mercy, my God, 
she says, for France so privileged, blessed, and well-beloved, 
the eldest daughter of t J lc Church? Silence. i Heave?i is 
covered with black clouds. A whirlwind of fames en- 
velops Paris, as in the preceding apparition? Silence. 
' Our Lord places Himself on Montmartre, where His 
Sacred Heart reposes? Josephine then saw Our Lord 
glide from the cloud on which He was placed, and take 
up His position on Montmartre. He was standing, 
holding in His left hand a cross which was covered 
with crowns composed of different colored roses ; His 
right hand was raised, the palm turned downward, in 
sign of protection ; He had on the outside of His breast 
His bleeding Sacred Heart. It is thus that Our Lord 
generally appears to Josephine. She continued : * Let 
thei?i fly there by thousands, for it is only He who ca?i ap- 
pease the anger of God His Father, so justly irritated 
against us. But it is not yet time? Silence. 

" The ecstatic then chanted the canticle : ' The love 
which inflames me/ etc. 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 251 

" Silence. Josephine joined her hands and recited 
the Act of Love, which she had said for the first time 
on May 13th, 1886, reading it then on the breast 
of Our Lord. The assistants recited this prayer in a 
low tone, except these last words which they said aloud : 
1 Lord, have mercy on us : have mercy on me, on my 
parents, my friends, and my enemies, and on all our 
dear deceased. Have mercy on Rome, on the Church 
and on France. Save us all ; but above all save thy 
Church, in the name of the Sacred Heart.' 

" After the recitation of this prayer, Josephine re- 
mained silent, then said : ' Yes, Lord? New silence. 
"But, my God, 110 one will believe i?i Thy victims; how 
could I speak thus I ' The countenance of Josephine be- 
came sad : tears filled her eyes. God showed her the 
lamentable tableau of the crimes, sacrileges, and sins of 
every kind which cover the earth, and she cried: ' Ah ! 
Lord, Lord, there never will be enough tears to efface so 
many crimes ! ' Josephine could not support the horrible 
spectacle which was before her eyes ; and seized with 
terror, her heart torn by the most bitter pain, she took 
her handkerchief, and with her two hands covered her 
face for some seconds. She then removed her hand- 
kerchief from her face, and saw, with an expression of 
new and indescribable feeling of appalling terror, the 
great and unheard-of chastisements which God, at some 
time, will inflict on France, Europe and a guilty world. 
These chastisements were never shown to Josephine in 
such vivid colors, nor with such heartrending details. 
The impression which she received remained and tor- 
mented her many days after the apparition had taken 
place. Under this impression of terror and unspeak- 
able fright, she said : ' Eye hath not seen, ear hath not 



252 2Ippartttons of Soulleret. 



heard? Silence. ' God will execute His designs with 
the greatest severity? 

" Then with an emphatic tone and making an express- 
ive gesture with her right hand to affirm what she said : 
' Woe and above all disasters to the rich who have not prop- 
erly fulfilled their duty? Silence. ' God guards His 
secret. Woe to the adulterer ! Woe to the proud t Even 
among the associates, there are many who make false gods 
of their riches and pleasures. Yes, I repeat it : woe to 
those who are attached to cupidity, for it will be difficult 
for them to deliver themselves from the chains of the demon? 

"After this, the prophetess cast a glance around her, 
and continued : ' my good Mother, if you do not come 
to our aid, we will all perish ! But I have confidence. 
Yes, we will pray, so that God will show us mercy and 
that His Church will triumph? Silence. ' Rome is more 
in danger than e7Jer? Silence. Josephine did not see 
Rome, as she just now saw Paris, enveloped by flames 
or destroyed. She saw, in Rome, like a civil war, great 
commotion among the people, the priests as well as the 
laity. She continued : 

" ' Oh, this tender Mother ! how she weeps ! how heart- 
broken she is with grief ! at the foot of her divine Son ! 
asking pardon for us / Yes, let us pray, let lis pray 
in this time of every kind of malediction t God strikes 
us with heavy blows and we do not see it. Death carries 
us away like leaves in the air ; we walk i?i the shadow of 
death, and are not converted? Silence. ' O my good 
Mother, I have confidence in you and I hope you will pro- 
tect us? After these words Josephine chanted the canti- 
cle : ' Tender Mary, cherished Mother/ etc. 

" The assistants sang the refrain in a low tone with 
the prophetess. 



Apparitions of Boulleret. 253 

" An expression of great joy shone on the countenance 
of Josephine while she chanted the last two verses, 
which the assistants also sang with her. During the 
hymn, which she sang slower at the last verse, as it 
related to the dead, she raised, little by little, her glance 
above her, and saw the souls delivered from Purgatory 
ascending to heaven. 

" After singing the canticle, the victim recited the Lit- 
any of the Blessed Virgin, the assistants responding : 
* Pray for us,' as Josephine said nothing. She thus 
announced the litany: ' Litany of the Blessed Virgin 
for the conversion of sinners, for those who are dear to 
me, for Rome, for all France, for the holy Roman Catholic 
Apostolic Church' She finished with this prayer : ' We 
supplicate Thee, Lord, to grant us, who are Thy serv- 
ants, perpetual health of soul and body, that by the 
intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary we may be 
delivered from present afflictions, and rejoice in eternal 
felicity in heaven. Through the merits of Jesus Christ 
Our Lord. Amen.' Silence. Then Josephine chanted, 
with an angelic accent, the hymn : ' Jerusalem, my happy 
home.' 

u This hymn was followed by another : i Virgin our 
hope,' the assistants chanting the refrain in a low tone. 

"After chanting this canticle, Josephine addressed 
these words to Our Lord and to Our Lady of the Seven 
Dolors : ' O my sweet Saviour, holy Virgin Mary, I come 
to your feet notwithstanding my unworthiness, to prese/it 
to you all the recommendations which have been made to 
me. May the petitions of these holy souls, filled with the 
Holy Spirit of God, be granted, if it be your holy will / 
Obtain the cures and conversions asked, and the cure 
of my dear invalids, I beg of you these petitions with all 



?54 2lppartttons of BouIIerei 



the saints in Paradise.' 1 Long silence. Then Josephine 
raised her arms, and held them as a priest at the pref- 
ace and Pater of the Mass, but out from her bosom 
with the palms of her hands turned towards Our Lord 
and His heavenly Mother, Mary desolate, and reciting, 
in honor of Our Lady of Dolors, the Our Father, Hail 
Mary, and Glory be to the Father, etc., seven times, the 
assistants answering all, and terminating with the sign 
of the cross. She now recited the prayer of Our Lady 
of Perpetual Help : 

" ' O holy Virgin Mary, who, to inspire us with a 
boundless confidence, have taken the sweet name of 
Mother of Perpetual Succor ! I supplicate you to help 
me at all times and in every place : in my temptations, 
after my failures, in my difficulties and in all the mis- 
eries of my life, but above all at the hour of my death. 
Give me, O charitable Mother, the thought and habit 
of always having recourse to you ; for I am sure, if I 
invoke you faithfully, you will be faithful to help me. 
Obtain for me this grace of graces, to pray to you with- 
out ceasing, and invoke you with the confidence of a 
child, so that by virtue of this faithful prayer I will 
obtain your perpetual help and final perseverance. Bless 
me, O tender and helpful Mother, and pray for me, 
now and at the hour of my death. Amen. O Mother 
of Perpetual Succor ! lend me your all-powerful help, and 
grant that I may ask it of you without ceasing. Amen.' 

" Having finished this prayer, the victim addressed to 
Our Lady of Dolors the three following invocations, 
each of which she repeated three times : ' Health of the 
sick, pray for us ; Comfortress of the afflicted, pray 
for us ; Help of Christians, pray for us.' She contin- 
ued : ' Divine Eucharist, Bread of angels, Manna of 



^Ipparittous of Boullerct. 2^5 

heaven, I earnestly beg of Thee to pardon all the out- 
rages which are committed against Thee in Europe. 
Deign to pardon and absolve me from all these evils.' 

" The prophetess then raised her right hand to her 
forehead, waited and looked around her as if to apprise 
the others that they were to be blessed also, and to invite 
them to make the sign of the cross with her. At this 
moment all the associates, present and absent, were 
blessed. Dear associates of Europe, Asia, Africa, and 
America, you have all been blessed to-day, May 13th, 
at twenty minutes after two. Do not forget, in the com- 
ing year, to pass this holy day piously, and, with the 
permission of your confessor, make a good communion 
in the morning; praying, reciting the Act of Love and 
the chaplet of the seven dolors from half-past one to 
three or half-past three in the afternoon. The victim 
then made this invocation, which she repeated three 
limes : * Sacred Heart of Jesus, have pity on us, on Rome 
and France.'' Then : ' O Sacred Heart of Jesus, without 
Thee we shall perish. Eternal Father, I offer Thee the pre- 
cious blood of Jesus Christ, the sorrows of the Blessed Virgin 
and St. Joseph. Save France/ Save the Church /' After 
these words, Josephine closed her eyes, let her head fall 
on the left side facing the wall, with her back to the 
people. 

i% Such was the apparition of May 13th, 1893. 

" At the end of the month of August 1892, Josephine, 
accompanied by her husband and eldest daughter, joined 
the pilgrimage of Bourges and went with them to 
Lourdes. She was plunged three times in the bath ; 
the second time she recovered her sight, which she has 
since enjoyed. 

" In the morning of the 8th of December, 1892, while 



'0 



6 Apparitions of Boulieret. 



Josephine was alone in her room, the most holy Virgin 
appeared to her. After several weeks, she told her 
husband and children that the Blessed Virgin had 
appeared to her on the 8th of December, but she gave no 
account of it to anyone, observing the prohibition which 
was made to her in 1883, as we have related in this 
book. 

" Ernestine was married the 29th of October, 1892, to 
Octave Picard, of Boulleret, a stone-cutter and mason. 
The eve of last Pentecost, May 20th, Ernestine slipped 
on the stairs. On account of this accident she gave 
premature birth to a child on the 31st of May, a boy, 
who was baptized the following day, June 1st, and was 
called John Joseph Raoul. 

" The number of associates at the end of January, 
1894, was 190, 000." 



Printed by Benziger Brothers, New York 



Propter Sion non tacebi, et propter Jerusalem non guiescam. 
For Sion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for the sake of Jerusalem 
I will not rest. — Is. lxii. i. 

AN ACCOUNT OF THE 

Association of the Heart of Jesus 

AND OF 

OUR LADY OF THE SEVEN DOLORS 

OF BOULLERET (CHER), FRANCE. 
BY 

L'ABBE JOSEPH OLIVE, 

Doctor of Theology of the University of St. Thomas, Rome, Director of the 
Association of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors of Boulleret, 
* at Cette (He'rault). 

FROiM THE SECOND FRENCH EDITION. 

"It is God who speaks at Boulleret by the mouth of Our Lady of the 
Seven Dolors, through the agency of the pious woman, and announces to 
men the chastisements which He will inflict on them. Happy are those 
who will believe in the warnings of Heaven, and put in practice the means 
indicated by the Most Holy Virgin in order to be preserved from the 
chastisements." — Letter of Monseigneur Tarino, Private Chaniberlain of 
His Holiness, August 5, t8qo. 

ki May the almighty and merciful God bless you and bless your work." — 
Blessing given to the Director of the Association by His Eminence Cardinal 
Dunajezvski, Prince- Bishop of Cracow, Rome, June, l8gr. 

" I bless from the bottom of my heart M. l'Abbe Olive, that he may con- 
tinue to produce fruits in the house of the Lord, like the tree of which he 
bears the name." — L. M., Cardinal Vicar, Rome, April ij, i8q2. 



Price 30 Cents. 



New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: 

BENZIGER BROTHERS, 

Printers to the Holy Apostolic See. 
1894. 



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